42d  Congress,)  no  USE  OF  REPEESENTATIVES.     (Mis.  Doc. 
3d  Session.     f  \   No.  22. 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


MEMORIAL  AND  REPORT 

OF  THE 

EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE  OF  THE  DETROIT  COMMER- 
CIAL CONVENTION, 

HELD  AT 

The  city  of  Detroit,  Michigan,  on  the  13th  day  of  December,  1871,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  Xiagara  Falls  ship-canal. 


December       1372. — Ordered  to  be  printed  and  recommitted  to  the  Committee  on 

Commerce. 


3Ir.  Conger,  from  the  Committee  on  Commerce,  reported  the  following 
memorial  of  the  Detroit  commercial  convention  relative  to  the  Niagara 
ship-canal : 

To  the  honorable  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States 
of  America  in  Congress  assembled : 

The  undersigned,  the  executive  committee  appointed  by  the  Detroit 
commercial  convention  held  at  Detroit,  in  the  State  of  Michigan,  on 
the  13th  day  of  December,  A.  D.  1871,  would  respectfully  state  that  said 
convention  assembled  in  pursuance  of  a  call  from  city  councils,  cham- 
bers of  commerce,  boards  of  trade,  and  other  like  bodies,  in  most  of  the 
principal  cities  and  commercial  centers  in  all  the  Northern  States,  both 
West  and  East,  aud  was  composed,  in  large  numbers,  of  business,  com- 
mercial, and  other  representative  men  from  all  parts  of  the  country. 
The  object  of  the  convention  was  to  devise  some  plan  for  the  speedy  con- 
struction of  a  ship-canal,  of  large  capacity,  around  the  falls  of  Niagara, 
on  the  American  side  thereof,  and  thereby  to  inaugurate  a  system  of 
cheap  transportation  between  the  grain-fields  of  the  West  and  the  east- 
ern and  European  markets,  and  also  to  facilitate  and  cheapen  commer- 
cial and  other  business  intercourse  between  the  different  sections  of  our 
country. 

The  corresponding  secretary  of  the  executive  committee,  who  issued 
the  cad  for  the  Detroit  commercial  convention  of  1871,  in  calling  the 
convention  to  order,  said : 

We  are  assembled  here,  from  different  parts  of  the  country,  to  deliberate  upon  one 
of  the  most  important  questions  that  is  now  or  probably  ever  will  come  before  the 
American  people.  We  are  here  from  the  East,  from  the  West,  and  from  the  center  of 
this  great  country,  for  the  purpose  of  devising  some  plan  by  which  we  can  facilitate, 
and  thereby  cheapen,  transportation  between  the  two  sections  of  the  country;  and  I 


2 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


am  rejoiced  to  see  representative  men  here  from  the  far  East  and  from  the  far  West, 
from  the  center,  and  almost  from  the  circumference,  of  the  Union.  It  shows  that  there  is 
a  deep  and  determined  purpose  among  the  people  to  secure  greater  facilities  and  cheaper 
rates  of  transportation.  There  are  representatives  here  from -at  least  twenty  millions 
of  people.  There  are  fifteen  millions  residing  west  of  Lake  Erie,  and  north  of  the 
Ohio  River,  who  are  represented  here;  and  that  people  all  speak  with  one  voice,  and 
express  hut  one  sentiment.  They  have  all  decided  and  determined  that  the  West  must 
have  increased  means  and  facilities  for  transportation  between  the  grain-fields  of  the 
vast  and  fertile  regions  lying  west  of  the  great  lakes  and  the  Atlantic  sea-board.  It 
is  to  devise  some  plan  to  secure  that  result  that  we  are  assembled  here  to-day.  I  hope, 
and  most  sincerely  trust,  that  our  deliberations  and  our  action  will  have  a  tendency,  at 
least,  speedily  to  secure  that  result. 

After  the  fall  organization  of  the  convention,  his  excellency  Governor 
Baldwin,  of  Michigan,  delivered  the  following  address  of  welcome: 

Gentlemen  of  the  Convention  :  It  is  a  pleasure  to  me  to  welcome  you  to  our  city 
and  State.  The  time  is  not  far  distant  when  Detroit  and  Michigan  were  looked  upon 
as  far  off  toward  the  setting  sun — at  the  far  west — but  that  time  has  passed  away  for- 
ever. 

Our  city  and  State,  where  you  are  now  assembled,  may  be  classed  as  occupying  an 
important  position  as  the  gateway  between  the  great  East  and  the  great  and  growing 
West.  We  live  in  an  age  and  in  a  country  of  progress.  Less  than  a  century,  or  three 
generations  of  men,  has  passed  away  since  the  Government  under  which  we  live  was 
organized.  Luring  this  period  we  have  not  been  exempt  from  the  common  lot  of 
nations;  several  times  engaged  in  open  conflict  with  other  nations,  and  but  very  re- 
cently in  a  prolonged  internal  strife,  such  as  has  never  before  befalleu  a  civilized 
people.  An  overruling  Providence  has  been  with  us;  so  that  Ave  have  not  only  suc- 
cessfully maintained  a  republican  government,  but  have  steadily  gone  forward,  deep- 
ening the  foundations  and  strengthening  the  principles  of  a  government  from  the 
people  and  for  the  people,  under  which  the  country  has  grown  and  prospered  as  has  no 
other  country  upon  the  face  of  the  globe. 

During  the  first  seventy  years  of  our  history  as  an  independent  government,  from 
1790  to  i860,  the  increase  of  the  population  of  the  country  was  about  35  per  cent,  for 
each  of  the  seven  decades;  and  during,  the  last  ten  years,  notwithstanding  the  four 
years  of  civil  war,  the  population  was  augmented  22  per  cent.  So  steady  and  so 
marked  has  been  the  progress  of  the  United  Slates  that  the  peoples  and  the  govern- 
ments of  the  Old  World,  far  beyond  the  Atlantic,  look  at  its  rapid  development  and 
growth  with  wonder  and  amazement.  While  they  see  iu  us  the  youngest  of  the  family 
of  nations,  they  cannot  but  assign  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States  the  fore- 
most rank  in  influence,  position,  and  power. 

The  completion  of  the  Erie  Canal,  in  1825,  providing  water-communication  from  the 
great  lakes  to  the  Atlantic,  was  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  iu  the  history  and  advance- 
ment of  our  country.  Up  to  that  period  the  great  West  was  almost  an  unknown  land. 
Although  a  small  steamer  appeared  on  the  upper  lakes  as  early  as  1819,  the  first 
steamer  was  seen  on  Lake  Michigan  in  1826,  the  year  after  the  opening  of  the  Erie 
Canal;  but  it  was  not  until  1832  that  a  steamer  visited  Chicago.  Just  thirty  years 
after  the  completion  of  the  Erie  Canal  another  great  work  was  completed,  the  Saint 
Mary's  Falls  Ship-Canal,  furnishing  a  most  important  highway  from  the  Northwest  to 
the  lower  lakes.  So  great  has  been  the  giowth  of  the  commerce  of  Lake  Superior,  and 
so  wonderful  is  its  promise  for  the  future,  that  the  capacity  of  this  canal  is  at  the 
present  time  being  doubled. 

It  is  quite  unnecessary  at  this  time  to  attempt  to  notice  in  detail  the  wonderful  in- 
crease of  population  and  products  in  that  portion  of  the  West  which  finds  its  natural 
outlet  to  the  sea-board  by  way  of  the  lakes.  The  entire  population  of  the  vast  extent 
of  territory  now  embraced  within  the  thirteen  States  ami  eight  Territories  west  of  the 
thirty-first  degree  of  west  longitude,  and  north  of  the  thirty-sixth  degree  of  north  lati- 
tude, in  1830  was  but  1,610,473.  The  same  territory  had,  in  18/0,  a  population  of 
13,867,861,  an  increase  of  806  per  cent.,  while  the  remaining  portion  of  the  Union  in- 
creased but  202  per  cent. 

When  we  scan  the  past,  and  bring  to  mind  the  hardships  and  self-denials  of  the 
early  settlers,  the  obstacles  overcome  by  them,  the  want  of  facilities,  and  the  heavy 
cost  in  reaching  a  market  for  their  products,  then,  turning  to  the  present,  behold  on 
every  hand  railroads  stretching  out  their  iron  arms  in  every  direction,  traversing  the 
continent  to  the  Pacific  coast,  and,  not  content  with  present  advantages,  observe  the 
construction,  with  accelerated  pace,  of  new  lines,  north  and  south,  east  and  west,  to 
the  limits  of  the  continent,  we  may  safely  assert  that  the  development  of  this  vast  re- 
gion has  just  begun. 

The  want  of  adequate  acilities  for  reaching  the  sea-board  with  the  products  of  the 
West  is  already  felt  to  a  very  serious  extent,  and  perhaps  no  other  one  thing  will  have 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


o 

o 


so  important  a  bearing  upon  the  future  of  the  Northwest  as  that  of  providing  reliable, 
cheap  steam-transportation  to  the  Atlantic  coast- 
That  the  rapid  growth  of  the  population  and  products  of  the  Northwest,  and  the 
consequent  increase  of  the  commerce  of  the  lakes,  will  soon  render  the  construction  of 
a  ship-canal  of  large  capacity  around  the  falls  of  Niagara,  on  the  American  side,  a 
necessity,  would  seem  to  admit  of  little  doubt. 

To  consider  and  devise  the  best  ineaus  of  supplying  adequate  cheap  steam-transpor- 
tation to  the  Atlantic  has  brought  you  together.  The  subject  is  one  of  vital  import- 
ance, and  may  well  demand  the  most  earnest,  the  most  elaborate,  and  the  wisest  coun- 
sels of  thoughtful  minds. 

I  trust  that  the  deliberations  and  discussions  of  this  convention  will  so  awaken  the 
public  mind  to  its  importance  as  to  result  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  end  so  neces- 
sary for  the  future  prosperity  of  our  country. 

The  convention  unanimously  adopted  the  following  preamble  and 
resolutions,  to  wit: 

Whereas  this  convention  is  deeply  impressed  with  this  central  thought,  to  wit,  that 
the  true  prosperity  of  any  nation  can  only  be  found  in  the  greatest  prosperity  of  its 
individual  members  and  the  various  commercial  and  internal  relations  between  the 
different  States:  Therefore, 

Resolved,  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  convention,  the  General  Government  at  Wash- 
ington should  at  once  adopt  a  liberal  policy  as  to  intercommunication  between  the 
West  and  tide-water  by  the  great  lakes  and  the  rivers  leading  to  and  from  the  centers 
of  the  States  lying  adjacent  thereto. 

Resolved,  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  convention,  the  construction  of  the  Niagara 
Falls  ship-canal  is  of  great  national  importance;  and  Representatives  in  Congress 
are  requested  to  do  all  iu  their  power  to  procure  an  appropriation  for  that  purpose. 

Resolved,  That  one  or  more  water-routes,  by  which  the  steamboats  of  the  Mississippi 
can  reach  the  harbors  and  unload  into  the  vessels  of  the  great  lakes,  are  of  such  im- 
portance to  so  many  States,  East  and  West,  as  to  have  become  a  matter  of  uational 
importance. 

Resolved,  That  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York  be  requested  to  grant  per- 
mission to  the  General  Government  to  enter  upon  its  territory  for  the  purpose  of  sur- 
veying and  constructing  the  Niagara  ship-canal. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions,  duly  authenticated,  be  forwarded  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States  and  to  each  member  of  Congress. 

LUCIUS  FA1RCHILDS,  President. 

William  Wilmot,  of  Michigan, 
J.  Potts  Brown,  of  Minnesota, 

Secretaries. 

On  motion,  the  following  gentlemen  were  appointed  by  the  president 
of  the  convention  an  executive  committee,  to  adopt  such  measures  as 
they  might  deem  necessary  and  advisable  to  bring  this  question  of  a 
ship  canal  around  the  falls  of  Niagara,  on  the  American  side  thereof,  to 
the  consideration  of  Congress,  and  also  to  press  upon  that  body  the 
great  importance,  indeed  imperative  necessity,  that  it  should  adopt  such 
measures  as  may  be  necessary  to  secure  the  speedy  construction  of  that 
work: 

Lewis  A.  Thomas,  of  Iowa,  chairman. 

Charles  Randolph,  of  Illinois;  John  Burt,  of  Michigan;  Daniel  G. 
Foit  and  George  I.  Post,  of  Hew  York;  T.  C.  Kersey,  of  Maine;  J.  H. 
Gray,  District  of  Columbia;  C.  D.  Robinson,  of  Wisconsin;  Ralph  P. 
Buckland,  of  Ohio,  executive  committee. 

At  a  previous  commercial  convention,  held  at  the  same  place  on  the 
11th,  12th,  13th,  and  14th  days  of  July,  1805,  to  take  intoconsideration  the 
same  subject,  the  following  resolutions,  among  others,  were  adopted,  to 
wit : 

NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 

Whereas  the  annual  increase  of  the  productions  of  the  States  bordering  npnn  and 
tributary  to  the  northern  lakes  has  exceeded  the  capacity  of  transportation  of  all  the 
avenues  to  the  Atlantic,  demonstrating  the  urgent  necessity  of  enlarged  water  facili- 
ties for  communication  between  the  West  and  East;  and 

Whereas  the  canals  and  various  lines  of  railroads  leading  to  and  from  said  lakes, 


4 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


while  they  have  contributed  vastly  to  develop  the  resources,  increase  the  wealth,  aud 
promote  the  permanent  union  of  our  whole  country,  are  wholly  inadequate  to  the  de- 
mands of  the  immense  and  rapidly  growing  commerce  of  our  country  :  Therefore, 

1st.  Resolved,  That  this  convention  regard  the  construction  of  a  ship-canal  around 
the  falls  of  Niagara  as  a  national  work  of  great  commercial  importance,  alike  demanded 
by  the  necessities  of  commerce  and  political  wisdom,  and  that  its  early  completion  by 
the  General  Government  is  required  by  every  consideration  of  sound  political  economy. 

2d.  Rekolved,  That  such  a  canal,  of  a  capacity  to  pass  the  largest  steam  or  sail  vessels 
which  now  or  hereafter  may  navigate  the  lakes,  will  afford  the  cheapest  aud  most  ex- 
peditious water  communication  for  the  transportation  of  the  products  of  the  great  pro- 
ducing States  of  the  West  and  Northwest,  by  bringing  into  use  the  most  easterly  of  the 
entire  chain  of  lakes  on  our  northern  frontier,  from  which  these  annually  increasing  pro- 
ducts may  be  distributed  by  short  enlarged  canals  and  by  railway  to  the  Hudson  and 
New  York,  also  into  New  England  and  Pennsylvania,  and  by  the  Saint  Lawrence 
River  direct  to  the  ocean. 

****** 

Adopted  Jul  v  13,  1865. 

HIRAM  WALBPJDGE,  New  York, 

President  of  the  Convention. 

William  Lacy.  New  York. 
Ray  Haddock,  Michigan, 
Adam  Brown,  Canada, 

Seevetavies. 

(Proceedings  of  the  Commercial  Convention  held  at  Detroit,  Michigan,  July  11th, 
12th,  13th,  and  14th,  1865 ;  page  96.) 

We  Lave  thus  copied  entire  the  resolutions  of  that  convention  on  this 
subject,  because  it  was  more  fully  represented  by  nearly  all  the  com- 
mercial associations  of  all  the  principal  cities,  towns,  and  commercial 
centers,  not  only  of  all  or  nearly  all  the  States  of  the  Union,  but  also  by 
the  leading  commercial  and  other  representative  men  of  all  the  leading 
cities  of  the  Canadian  provinces.  It  thus  more  fully  represented  the  pub- 
lic sentiment  of  the  people  of  the  entire  North  American  continent  than 
any  other  convention  or  public  deliberative  body  which  has  ever  assem- 
bled on  the  continent.  General  Walbridge,  of  the  city  of  New  York,  its 
president,  said  of  it  in  the  National  Board  of  Trade,  held  at  Richmond, 
Virginia,  in  December,  1869: 

As  early  as  1822,  the  War  Department  organized  a  commission  to  report  upon  the 
propriety  of  the  construction  of  a  Niagara  ship-canal.  The  report  was  favorable,  and 
there  has  been  frequent  action  on  the  part  of  the  Government  since  that  time.  At  the 
Detroit  convention,  (1865,)  composed  of  six  huudred  and  forty  delegates,  the  first  com- 
mercial convention  held  after  the  rebellion,  the  resolution  in  favor  of  the  construction 
of  this  skip-canal  was  passed  by  a  nearly  unanimous  vote. — (Proceedings  of  National 
Board  of  Trade  at  Eichinond  in  1869,  page  141.) 

The  one  idea  prevailing  in  that,  as  also  in  the  subsequent  convention 
of  1871.  was  the  necessity  for  cheap  transportation,  and  the  impossibility 
of  securing  that  result  in  any  other  way  than  by  opening  up  continuous 
steam  navigation  of  large  capacity  from  the  great  lakes  of  the  North- 
west to  the  Atlantic  Ocenn  by  the  way  of  the  Eiver  Saint  Lawrence, 
Lake  Champlain,  and  Hudson  Eiver. 

.  Mr.  James  F.  Joy,  of  Detroit,  one  of  the  most  influential,  intelligent, 
'  and  representative  men  in  that  convention,  and,  indeed,  in  the  entire 
West,  used  the  following  language,  which  is  now  more  emphatically  true 
now  than  when  uttered.  The  products  of  the  West,  as  well  as  its  popu- 
lation, have  vastly  increased  since  that  speech  was  made: 

With  the  millions  of  the  West,  the  avenue  to  market  is  a  vital  question.  When,  close 
upon  the  Mississippi,  corn  is  burned  for  fuel,  because  the  expense  of  sending  it  to  mar- 
ket is  more  than  it  is  worth ;  when  from  Illinois,  on  an  average,  it  costs  the  farmer 
three  bushels  to  get  the  fourth  to  market  in  New  York,  and  much  more  to  lay  it  down 
in  Liverpool ;  w  hen,  from  all  the  Lake  States,  it  costs  half  of  all  the  flour  and  wheat  to 
the  farmer  to  get  the  rest  to  the  markets  of  the  world,  it  has  become  high  time  for  the 
Government  to  look  a  little  to  the  protection  of  its  interest,  and  to  the  future  welfare 
and  prosperity  of  that  vast  and  fertile  region  of  country  surrounding  the  Great  Lakes 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


5 


and  stretching-  across  tlie  valleys  of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  Rivers  toward  the 
Rocky  Mouutai  s.    (Record  of  proceedings  of  convention,  page  39.) 

Note. — During  the  past  year  it  cost  the  Iowa  farmer,  and  still  does, 
seven  bushels  of  corn  to  get  the  eighth  to  the  New  York  market,  and 
other  products  in  like  proportion.    (Ex  committee.) 

At  the  meeting  of  the  National  Board  of  Trade,  held  at  Richnjond,  in 
the  State  of  Virginia,  on  the  1st  day  of  December,  I860,  the  following 
resolution  in  relation  to  the  Niagara  ship-canal  was  adopted,  to  wit: 

Resolved,  That  this  convention  regards  the  construction  of  a  ship-canal  around  the 
falls  of  Niagara  as  a  national  work  of  great  commercial  importance,  alike  demanded 
by  the  interests  of  commerce  and  political  wisdom,  and  that  its  early  completion  by 
the  General  Government  is  required  by  every  consideration  of  sound  political  economy. 

In  carrying  out  the  instructions  of  the  convention  we  present  the 
following  facts  and  arguments  in  support  of  that  great  national  measure. 
In  doing  so  we  unite  with  said  convention,  as  also  with  the  prior  one — 
indeed,  with  the  people  in  all  sections  of  the  country — in  urging  upon 
the  consideration  of  Congress  the  very  great  importance  of  this  work, 
and  the  imperative  necessity  that  it  should  adopt  some  plau  for  its  speedy 
construction.  We  are  firmly  impressed  with  the  conviction  that  cheap 
transportation  can  never  be  established,  or  even  inaugurated,  until  con- 
tinuous steam-navigation  through  this  route  is  opened  up  to  the  Atlantic 
Ocean.  We  would  also  respectfully  request  the  careful  consideration  of 
the  following  statements  by  each  and  all  of  the  honorable  members. 
They  may  be  somewhat  voluminous,  but  the  importance  of  the  measure, 
and  the  ATast  number  and  variety  of  the  facts  and  circumstances  neces- 
sary to  be  considered,  preclude  the  possibility  of  very  much  reducing 
their  elucidation. 

Lewis  A.  Thomas,  Iown, 

Charles  Randolph,  Illinois, 

Daniel  G.  Fort  and  Geo.  I.  Post,  New  York,* 

John  Burt,  Michigan, 

T.  C.  Hersey,  Maine, 

J.  H.  Gray,  District  of  Columbia, 

C.  D.  Eobiinson,  Wisconsin, 

Ralph  P.  Bucklant).  Ohio, 

Executive  Committee. 

Detroit,  Michigan,  November  20,  1872. 

But  those  conventions  are  not  the  only*  representative  bodies  which 
have  taken  emphatic  and  decided  action  on  this  subject.  The  people  of 
the  whole  country  have,  through  resolutions  of  popular  assemblies  and 
commercial  conventions,  by  messages  of  governors,  and  memorials  of 
legislatures,  and  through  the  public  journals  of  the  country,  again  and 
again  reiterated  the  imperative  necessity  of  this  work.  Brief  extracts 
only  from  a  few  of  these  popular  demands  of  the  people  can  here  be 
given.  The  following  is  a  portion  of  the  memorial  of  the  legislature  of 
the  State  of  Iowa  to  Congress,  for  the  year  1870,  on  the  subject  of  this 
route : 

The  general  assembly  of  the  Stale  of  Iowa  to  the  Senate  and  House  of  Eejirexentativcs  of  the 
United  States  respeetfully  represent : 

That  the  question  of  "  uninterrupted  water-communication,"  between  the  Mississippi 
Valley  and  the  Atlantic  sea-board,  has  become  one  of  all-absorbing  interest  to  the  peo- 
ple of  the  whole  couutry,  and  more  especially  the  food-produciug  States  of  the  North- 
west. It  has  been  considered  by  the  people,  met  in  local,  county,  State,  and  national 
conventions;  by  boards  of  trade  and  other  commercial  associations;  by  city  councils 
and  boards  of  supervisors  of  cities  and  counties;  by  the  legislatures  and  governors  of 


6 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


States,  aud  through  the  public  press;  and,  without  exceptiou,  by  resolution,  memorial, 
message,  aud  public  discussion,  all  have  united  iu  recognizing  its  importance  and 
imperative  necessity,  and  urging  the  attention  and  action  of  Congress  and  the  country 
in  relation  thereto.  A  few  brief  extracts  will  demonstrate  how  thoroughly  and  uni- 
versally this  subject  has  taken  hold  of  the  popular  sympathies  of  the  people. 

The  national  commercial  convention,  which  met  in  Chicago  in  1862,  one  of  the  largest, 
most  intelligent,  aud  most  influential  popular  assemblies  which  ever  convened  in  the 
country ,%iost  emphatically  affirmed  the  proposition  that  "uninterrupted  steam-uaviga- 
gation  from  the  Mississippi  River,  by  way  of  the  great  lakes,  to  the  Atlantic  sea-board, 
had  become  an  imperative  necessity."  The  following  resolutions  were  adopted  by  a 
unanimous  vote : 

" Resolved,  That  we  regard  the  enlargement  of  canals  between  the  Mississippi  River 
and  the  Atlantic,  with  canals  duly  connecting  the  lakes,  as  of  great  national,  military, 
and  commercial  importance;  we  believe  such  enlargement,  with  dimensions  sufficient 
to  pass  gun-boats  from  the  Mississippi  to  Lake  Michigan,  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  and 
from  the  Great  Lakes,  will  furnish  the  cheapest  and  most  efficient  means  of  protecting 
the  northern  frontier,  and,  at  the  same  time,  will  promote  the  rapid  development  aud 
permanent  union  of  our  whole  country. 

"  Resolved,  That  these  works  are  demanded  alike  by  military  prudeuce,  political  wis- 
dom, aud  the  necessities  of  commerce.  Such  works  will  be  not  only  national,  but 
continental,  and  their  early  acconrplishinent  is  required  by  every  principle  of  sound 
political  economy." 

In  the  memorial  addressed  to  Congress,  the  convention  say:  "The  one  great  idea 
which  your  memorialists  seek  to  impress  upon  Congress  is  the  necessity  of  a  great  national 
highway  in  the  form  of  a  ship  and  steamboat  canal  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Atlantic. 
This  great  national  highway  is  demanded  alike  by  military  prudence,  the  necessities  of  com- 
merce, and  sound  political  wisdom." 

The  commercial  convention,  held  in  the  city  of  Dubuque,  in  May,  1864,  by  delegates 
from  nearly  all  the  Northwestern  States,  in  their  resolutious  to  Congress  say:  "  The 
increasing  development  of  the  vast  agricultural,  mineral,  and  commercial  resources  of  the  Xorth- 
west,  and  more  especially  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  Valley,  require  and  demand  the  opening,  at 
the  earliest  possible  periods,  of  a  water-communication  between  the  eastern  sea-board  and  the 
Mississippi  Hirer,  by  the  nearest,  cheapest,  most  expeditious,  and  most  practicable  route." 

A  commercial  convention  "of  the  people  of  Missouri,  Iowa',  Illinois,  Minnesota,  and 
'Wisconsin,  held  at  the  same  place,  on  the  14th  and  15th  days  of  February,  1866,  in 
their  report  and  memorial  to  Congress  say:  "Many  of  the  great  staples  are  nearly 
valueless;  and  never  before,  in  the  history  of  the  country,  did  the  fruit  of  the  laborer 
produce  so  little  comfort.  Corn,  in  many  places,  is  used  for  fuel;  oats  in  the  stack  rot 
unthrashed;  barley  and  rye  cannot  be  moved  ;  and  wheat,  except  of  the  first  quality, 
haves  no  margin  to  the  shipper.  If  animal  products  form  au  exception,  it  is  oniy 
because  of  the  scarcity  war  has  produced,  aud  their  price  will  soon  reach  the  low  level 
of  the  cereals.*  In  all  this  thare  is  a  great  want,  a  sore  need;  and  if  no  remedy  can 
be  found,  production  in  this  region  must  diminish,  aud  the  strongest  arm  of  the  nation 
must  Avither.  But  one  means  of  relief  can  be  afforded,  which  is  to  provide  cheaper  trans- 
portation to  the  markets  of  the  world  for  our  heavy  products.  *  *  *  The 
good  results  to  flow  from  the  successful  accomplishment  of  this  great  purpose  can 
hardly  be  enumerated.  They  are  as  multiplied  as  the  industries  of  the  nation,  aud  vast 
as  its  wonderful  resources." 

The  commercial  convention  of  delegates  from  all  the  States  of  the  Mississippi  Valley, 
held  at  Keokuk  on  the  7th  day  of  September,  1837,  in  their  proceedings  s:iy  :  u  Unin- 
terrupted water-transportation  from  the  Mississippi  Valley  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean  is 
indispensable,  and  an  imperative  necessity." 

In  a  memorial  to  Congress,  extensively  signed  by  the  people  in  the  Upper  Mississippi 
Valley,  and  forwarded  to  their  respective  Representatives  iu  1365,  1837,  and  1863,  they 
say :  "  The  experience  of  the  whole  country,  for  the  last  few  years,  has  most  abundantly 
proven  that  new,  cheaper,  and  more  diiect  commercial  communications  must  be  speedily 
opened  up  between  the  East  and  the  West,  or  the  expansion  and  continued  prosperity  of 
the  latter  must  very  soon  reach  a  limit  beyond  which  it  cannot  pass.  Railroads  are  en- 
tirely inadequate  to  supply  that  need.  We  confidently  affirm  that  nothing  but  a  continued 
water-communication  between  the  eastern  sea-board  and  the  Mississippi  can,  by  any  possibility, 
obviate  this  difficulty."  These  memorials  further  say :  " This  region  (the  Upper  Mississippi 
Valley)  will  raise  and  send  to  market  this  year  (1868)  about  seventy  million  bushels  of 
wheat,  or  two  million  tons.  There  will  also  be  imported  hither  at  least  one  million  tons  of 
merchandise  and  other  freight,  making  in  all  three  million  tons,  besides  beef,  pork,  and 
other  agricultural  products  which  must  seek  an  eastern  market.    The  annual  increase, 


*The  prediction  of  that  convention  was  most  emphatically  fulfilled  iu  the  price  of 
pork  and  other  animal  food  in  1870-71.  In  the  latter  year  the  producer  realized  less 
than  $'2.50  per  100  lbs.  on  his  pork. 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


1 


for  many  years  to  come,  will  be  about  25  per  cent.*  A  water-communication,  which 
will  reduce  the  tariff  from  railroad  to  water  rates  on  these  products  and  merchandise, 
wili  annually  save,  to  this  region  alone,  at  least  ten  millions  of  dollars,  which  must 
otherwise  be  paid  in  freights  iu  the  land-carriage  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  lakes, 
when,  at  the  same  time,  the  products  of  this  whole  region  of  country  can  be  transported 
through  such  a  route  to  New  York  City  as  cheap,  and  quite  ay  expeditiously,  as  by  rail 
from  any  of  the  ports  on  Lake  Michigan. 

In  a  pamphlet  compiled  and  published  in  I80S  by  order  of  the  president  and  direct- 
ors of  the  James  River  and  Kanaw  ha  Canal  Conipauy,  at  the  request  of  prominent 
citizens  of  the  West,  the  writer  says:  "Cheap  transportation  is  the  great  necessity  of 
the  West.  Its  products  exceed  the  means  at  couunaud  of  cheap  outlet  to  the  sea-board. 
*  *  *  They  press  constantly  upon  the  avenues  of  transportation,  and  millions 
of  western  producers  are  thus  placed  under  the  power  of  carriers." 

The  city  council  of  the  city  and  the  board  of  supervisors  of  the  county  of  Dubuque, 
in  a  memorial  to  Congress  on  this  subject,  say:  "That  upon  the  speedy  completion  of 
the  great  national  thoroughfare  from  the  Mississippi  by  the  way  of  the  Wisconsin  and 
Fox  Rivers,  the  great  lakes,  the  River  Saint  Lawrence,  and  Lake  Champlain,  to  the 
tide-waters  of  the  Atlantic  at  New  York  City,  depends  in  a  very  great  measure  the 
future  development  and  continued  prosperity  of  the  entire  Northwest." 

The  twelfth  general  assembly  of  the  State  of  Iowa,  in  a  memorial  to  Congress  in  re- 
lation to  this  question,  say  :  "That  the  great  want  of  oar  State  is  cheap  transportation 
for  our  heavy  products  to  the  markets  of  the  world.  That  the  most  feasible  plan  to 
secure  this  end  is  to  provide  a  direct  and  continuous  line  of  water-communication  be- 
tween the  Mississippi  River  and  the  Atlantic  sea-board." 

In  another  memorial  to  Congress  on  the  same  subject,  but  in  relation  to  another  route, 
the  same  legislature  further  says:  "The  products  of  the  Northwest  for  transportation 
have  increased  beyond  example.  The  capacity  of  the  present  channels  of  commerce  is 
insufficient  to  move  them,  while  the  cost  of  transportation  is  so  great  that  in  some 
localities  corn  is  used  for  fuel,  and,  in  most,  is  converted  into  pork  and  beef  before  it 
can  be  forwarded." 

The  legislature  of  Wisconsin  for  the  year  1868,  iu  a  memorial  to  Cougress  on  this  sub- 
ject, say:  "The  character  of  the  undertaking  is  alike  apparent  to  Congress,  the  legis- 
lature, and  the  people.  It  is  rendered  necessary  as  a  military  measure,  to  protect  against 
inroad  and  attack  a  frontier  extending  from  the  Atlantic»to  the  Pacific;  as  a  commer- 
cial measure,  to  enlarge  the  already  inadequate  outlets  for  an  increasing  commerce, 
thereby  lifting  from  freights,  and  ultimately  from  the  people,  extortionate  tariffs;  and 
as  a  measure  otherwise  national,  to  establish,  out  of  avenues  of  intercourse  and  trade, 
bonds  of  national  unity." 

The  senate  committee  on  commerce  and  navigation  of  the  legislature  of  the  State  of 
New  York  for  the  year  1664,  in  a  report  on  the  Niagara  Ship-Canal,  say:  "  On  the  five 
seas  that  are  embraced  in  this  system  of  lakes,  there  annually  float  two  thousand  ves- 
sels of  all  descriptions,  valued  at  twenty  millions  of  dollars,  and  bearing  a  commerce 
double  the  value  of  the  whole  foreign  trade  of  the  country.t 

"This  great  and  rapidly  increasing  commerce,  derived  from  a  group  of  States  and 
moving  to  the  markets  of  the  world  through  three  distinct  systems  of  navigation,  is  as 
much  national  in  its  character  as  that  which  is  floated  on  the  ocean. 

"This  contemplated  improvement  is  bounded  by  no  Stare  lines,  nor  confined  to  nar- 
row limits,  but  would  affect  more  or  less  remotely  the  interests  of  ten  millions  of  peo- 
ple, scattered  over  broad  regions  of  country  and  contributing  largely  to  our  natioual 
power,  prosperity,  and  security.  *  *  *  * 

"The  construction  of  such  a  route  would  open  a  wide  and  deep  channel  between  the 
upper  lakes  and  Lake  Ontario  and  the  Saint  Lawrence  River,  aud  eventually  lead  to 
the  construction  of  ship-canals  from  Lake  Ontario  on  the  Saint  Lawrence  to  the  Hud- 
son River,  thus  saving  greatly  the  interchanging  of  products  and  merchandise  between 
New  York  and  the  West." 

At  the  canal  convention  held  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  in  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  Novem- 
ber 10,  186H,  the  president.  Governor  Merrill,  of  Iowa,  on  taking  the  chair,  said:  "The 
importance  of  the  subject  which  has  called  us  together  cauuot  be  overestimated.  It  is 
a  subject  affecting,  not  the  interests  of  au  individual,  of  a  corporation,  of  a  city,  or  of 
asiugle  State  even,  but  it  is  one  of  such  magnitude  that  five  or  six  States  have  assem- 
bled here,  iu  the  persons  of  their  representatives,  to  consider  and  discuss  it.  *  # 
I  declare  it  my  belief  that  our  growth  and  prosperity  will  be  largely  affected  by  the 
success  or  defeat  of  the  measure  now  before  us." 

In  the  proceedings  of  the  convention  the  following  resolution  was  unanimously 
adopted : 

"Resolved,  That  the  immediate  opening  of  said  channel  is  demanded  by  the  interests 
of  the  people  of  the  entire  country;  that  the  work  is  one  of  national  importance,  re- 


*  At  the  present  time  (1372)  these  products  have  increased  more  than  two  million  tons. 
tThe  value  of  that  inland  commerce  is  now  more  than  one  thousand  million  dollars. 


8 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


quired  as  a  channel  of  commerce,  as  a  ligament  to  bind  together  the  States,  insuring 
national  unity,  and  as  a  measure  of  defense  in  case  of  war." 

The  Dubuque  (Iowa)  delegation,  not  being  able  to  reach  the  convention  in  time,  for- 
warded a  preamble  and  resolution  expressive  of  the  views  of  the  people  of  that  State, 
which  were  incorporated  into  the  proceedings  of  the  convention.  The  following  is  one 
of  the  resolutions: 

11  Resolved,  That  cheap  transportation  is  an  imperative  necessity  for  the  entire  North- 
west, and  more  especially  for  the  Upper  Mississippi  Valley,  without  which  its  continued 
development,  and  consequent  prosperity,  must  at  no  distant  period  reach  a  limit  beyond 
which  it  cannot  pass."  • 

At  the  re-assembling  of  that  convention  at  Portage  City,  Wisconsin,  on  the  20th  of 
October.  1869.  the  following  resolution,  among  others,  was  unanimously  adopted: 

"Resolved,  That  a  water-route  by  which  steamboats  of  the  Mississippi  River  cau  run 
to  the  harbors  and  unload  into  the  vessels  of  the  great  lakes,  is  a  public  necessity." 

These  are  but  brief  extracts.  Volumes  might  be  filled  with  the  proceedings  of 
legislatures,  national,  State,  county,  and  local  conventions,  discussions  in  the  public 
press,  and  proceedings  of  the  people  generally,  iu  relation  to  this  great  national  and 
continental  enterprise,  thus  receiving  the  sanction  of  the  entire  American  people.  The 
following  memorial,  now  pending  before  this  legislature,*  is  the  latest  expression  of  this 
universal  sentiment  of  the  country.  It  is  signed  by  very  many  of  the  most  enterprising, 
public-spirited,  wealthy,  and  successful  business  men  of  the  State,  and  of  the  whole 
Northwest,  and  expressing  in  very  brief  terms  the  imperative  necessities  and  general 
interests  of  the  people  of  the  entire  Upper  Mississippi  Valley,  and,  as  we  believe,  of  the 
whole  country: 

"  To  the  honorable  the  general  assembly  of  the  State  of  Iowa  : 

"The  undersigned,  citizens  of  Iowa,  would  state  that  the  people  of  the  entire 
country,  and  more  especially  of  the  Northwest,  have  become  deeply  interested  in  the 
question  of  uninterrupted  water-communication  between  the  Mississippi  Valley  and 
the  Atlantic  sea-board,  and  more  particularly  in  relation  to  the  route  b\T  the  way  of  the 
Wisconsin  and  Fox  Rivers,  the  great  lakes,  the  river  Saint  Lawrence,  and  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  to  New  York  City.  Although  this  great  transcontinental  work  must  be  mainly 
carried  out  (if  at  all)  by  individual  enterprise  and  capital,  'the  interposition  and  assist- 
ance of  the  General  Government  will  be  indispensable  to  its  final  success.  We  would 
therefore  respectfully  request  the  legislature  to  memorialize  Congress  for  such  legisla- 
tion and  material  aid  as  may  be  necessary  to  secure  a  speedy  consummation.  Also,  to 
invite  the  co-operation  of  the  legislatures  and  people  of  the  country,  and  njore  especi- 
ally of  the  Western  and  Northern  States,  iu  this  work.  And  also  to  suggest  some  plan 
of  operation  whereby  the  iulluence,  energy,  and  capital  of  the  whole  country  can  be 
.successfully  concentrated  upon  this  great  national  and  continental  enterprise. 

"Lewis  A.  Thomas,  Ambrose  Gleed,  A.  Heeb,  Shubel  P.  Adams,  W.  H.  Rumph,  John 
S.  Williams  &  Co.,  C.  A.  Metcalf,  P.  D.  Hosford,  M.  Kingman,  W.  Chandler,  Johu  King, 
Stewart,  Shields  &  Co..  Johu  P.  Burt.  J.  W.  Cov,  W.  G.  Stewart,  E.  D  Cook,  Simplot 
Bros.,  B.  B.  Richards,  John  H.  Lull,  Henry  Barr,  E.  H.  Eigrny,  L.  A.  Rhomburg  &  Co., 
M.  S.  Robison,  J.  A.  Rhomburg,  John  W.  Deery,  P.  Morgan,  John  Glabb,  Edward 
Clingenberg.  John  Milligan,  Burton,  Hill  &  Co.,  J.  W.  Parker,  John  Fitzpatrick,  Rouse 
&  Dean,  W.  W.  Parker,  Ed.  C.  David,  A.  Hubert,  F.  A.  Parker,  H.  W.  Griswold,  Alex- 
ander Levi,  Will.  F.  Deuce.  John  D.  Jennings,  George  W.  Jones,  Atherton,  Walker  & 
Co.,  Carr,  Austin  &  Co.,  Chas.  Jones,  V.  J.  Williams,  J.  B.  Lane,  G.  Fleming,  C.  J. 
Cummings,  Win,  Newman,  Wm.  A.  Judd.  Johu  Mullanv,  Lawrence  McNamee,  Amsden 
&  Walker,  M.  H.  Moore,  W.  H.  Peabody.  P.  Logan,  R.  j'  Gibbs,  J.  H.  Thedinga,  Parker, 
McMasters  &  Co.,  L.  D.  Randall  &  Co.,  W.  C.  Chamberlain,  A.  A.  Cooper,  Thos.  Kenny, 
C.  Mason,  F.  Jaeger  &  Co.,  Sears  &  Abbott,  Thos.  Swain,  J.  E.  Fairbanks  &  Co.,  Sol. 
R.  Naugh  &  Co.,  Geo.  D.  Wood.  H.  B.  Baker,  C.  Crocker. 

"  Dubuque,  Iowa,  December  24,  1869." 

A  few  extracts,  taken  from  the  circular  issued  by  the  executive 
committee  for  tlie  convening"  of  the  said  Detroit  convention  of  1871, 
clearly  demonstrate  how  thoroughly  impressed  the  people  in  all  parts 
of  the  country  have  become  of  the  importance  and  imperative  necessity 
of  this  work : 

A  GREAT  CONTINENTAL  ENTERPRISE. 

CONTINUOUS  STEAM    NAVIGATION  FROM    THE    MISSISSIPPI  VALLEY    TO    THE  ATLANTIC 

OCEAN. 

Whereas  resolutions  have  been  adopted  by  chambers  of  commerce,  boards  of  trade, 


*  Afterwards  unanimously  adopted  by  both  branches. 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


9 


oity  councils,  and  public  meetings  and  other  bodies  in  most  of  the  principal  cities  and 
commercial  centers  in  the  Northern  and  Western  States,  calling  for  a  commercial  con- 
vention to  take  into  consideration  the  foregoing  proposition,  which  resolutions  are  all 
in  substance  as  follows,  to  wit: 

"Besohed,  That  the  business  men  in  all  parts  of  the  country  interested  in  cheap 
transportation  betweeen  the  West  and  East  be  invited  and  requested  to  meet  in  con- 
vention at  Detroit,  in  the  State  of  Michigan,  some  time  this  autumn,  to  devise  ways 
and  means  of  opening  up,  at  the  earliest  practicable  period,  a  continuous  water  and 
steam  navigation  route,  of  maximum  capacity,  from  the  Mississippi  Valley,  around  the 
Falls  of  Niagara  on  the  American  side:  thence  by  the  way  of  Lake  Ontario  and  River 
Saint  Lawrence.  Lake  Champlain,  and  Hudson  River,  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  by  the 
nearest,  cheapest,  and  best  route;  also  to  petition  Congress  to  assist  in  the  consumma- 
tion of  this  great  continental  as  well  as  national  enterprise,  by  making  an  appropria- 
tion adequate  to  the  construction  of  the  works  at  Niagara  Falls. 

u  That  the  convention  be  restricted  in  its  proceedings  and  resolutions  exclnsively  to 
measures  for  the  promotion  and  success  of  this  enterprise,  and  that  it  petition  Congress 
to  legislate  thereou  separate  and  apart  from  all  other  questions  and  measures." 

Resolutions  (all  of  which  are  substantially  embodied  in  the  foregoing)  have  been 
unanimously  adopted  by  the  following  civil  and  commercial  bodies  and  public  meetings 
of  the  people  in  various  and  distant  parts  of  the  country,  to  wit : 

State  of  Ioica.— Board  of  trade  and  city  council  of  the  city  of  Dubuque,  June  1, 1871 ; 
board  of  supervisors  of  the  county  of  Dubuque,  June  5;  city  council  and  public  meet- 
ing of  McGregor,  July  20;  city  council  of  Lansing,  July  21. 

State  of  Wisconsin. — City  council  and  board  of  trade  of  La  Crosse,  July  25  ;  chamber 
of  commerce  of  Milwaukee,  September  20. 

State  of  Minnesota. — City  council  of  Winona.  July  24  :  city  council  and  board  of  trade 
of  Redwing.  July  27  :  city  council  of  Hastings,  July  28;  board  of  trade  of  Saint  Paul. 
August  7 :  city  council,  board  of  trade,  and  lumbermen's  board  of  trade  of  Saint  Croix 
Valley,  Stillwater.  August  4 :  board  of  trade  of  Minneapolis  and  Saint  Anthony.  August 
3,  and  city  council  of  Minneapolis,  August  10;  city  council  and  board  of  trade  of  Du 
Luth,  August  9. 

State  of  New  York. — Public  meeting  and  president  and  trustees  of  Lewiston,  August 
18;  public  meeting  and  president  and  trustees  of  Youngstown,  Angust  19. 

State  of  Vermont. — President  and  Trustees  of  Saint  Albans,  August  25 :  public  meeting, 
mayor  aud  city  council  and  board  of  trade  of  Burlington,  Angust  28. 
State  of  New  Hampshire. — City  council  of  Concord,  September  6. 
State  of  Maine. — Board  of  trade  of  Portland,  September  6. 
State  of  Massachusetts. — Boston  Commercial  Exchange,  September  8. 
Stale  of  Michigan. — Board  of  Trade  of  Detroit.  September  15. 
State  of  Illinois. — Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Chicago,  September  19. 
And  whereas  the  governors  of  a  large  portion  of  the  Northern  States  have  united  in- 
said  call,  while  others  have  signified  their  approval  of  said  convention  and  pledged 
their  co-operation  therein.    Now,  therefore,  in  view  of  the  vast  importance  of  the  con- 
templated improvement  to  the  continued  development  and  consequent  prosperity  of  the 
agricultural,  manufacturing,  and  commercial  interests  of  the  whole  country,  and  being 
•called  for  by  so  large  a  majority  of  the  principal  commercial  centers  of  the  country,  and 
more  especially  of  the  Northern  States,  notice  is  hereby  giveu  that  a  commercial  con- 
vention will  be  held  at  Detroit,  in  the  State  of  Michigan,  on  Wednesday,  the  13th  day 
of  December.  1~71.  for  the  purpose  expressed  in  the  foregoing  resolution. 

The  effort  to  open  up  continuous  steam  navigation  of  large  capacity  between  the 
Mississippi  Valley  and  the  Atlantic  sea-board  is  a  gigantic  enteqmse.  well  worthy  the 
combined  aud  vigorous  efforts  of  a  free,  prosperous,  and  enterprising  people.  It  will, 
however,  tax  the  energies  of  our  whole  people:  not  one  effort  or  influence  should  or  can 
safely  be  omitted  in  this  grand  movement,  in  the  onward  progress  of  onr  national  de- 
velopment and  material  prosperity.  In  no  other  way.  however,  can  the  vast  and  rapidly 
increasing  agricultural,  manufacturing,  and  commercial  interests  of  the  whole  country 
be  adequately  aud  efficiently  subserved.  Let  us.  therefore,  make  one  more  grand  and 
united  effort  to  consummate  this  great  continental  as  well  as  national  enterprise. 
Judging  the  future  by  the  past,  we  have  the  strongest  assurance  that  our  efforts  trill 
be  crowned  with  the  most  triumphant  success. 
Bv  order  of  the  executive  committee  : 

TAMES  BURT.  WM.  W.  JONES.  Wisconsin, 

WM.  I.  GILCHRIST.  W.  W.  WHEATON. 

R.  J.  GIBBS.  C.  M.  GARRISON. 

Dr.  G.  W.  SCOTT,  JOHN  BURT.  Michigan. 

A.  C.  CALL.  ExeeHtire  Committee. 

M.  KINGMAN.  Iowa,  LEWIS  A.  THOMAS, 

D.  W.  INGERSOLL.  Minnesota.  Con-expanding  Secretary. 

F.  H.  WEST, 
Dlbuqi-e.  October  IS.  1*71. 


10 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


The  following  letter  of  Governor  Merrill,  of  Iowa,  speaks  the  unani- 
mous sentiment  of  the  people,  not  only  of  that  State,  but  of  the  entire 
West,  and,  as  we  believe,  of  the  whole  country: 

Executive  Office, 
Des  Moines,  Iowa,  October  4,  1871. 
Dear  Sin :  I  have  received  yours  of  September  30,  together  with  resolutions  and 
printed  circulars  entitled  "  A  call  for  a  commercial  convention  of  the  people  and  busi- 
ness men  of  the  country,  to  devise  ways  and  means  for  opening  up  continuous  and 
uninterrupted  water  and  steam  navigation  from  the  Mississippi  Valley  to  the  Atlantic 
Ocean." 

I  most  cheerfully  join  the  governors  of  the  East  and  West  in  this  call,  which  I  have 
signed  and  herewith  returned  to  you. 

I  regard  this  effort,  by  the  friends  and  advocates  of  cheap  transportation  between 
the  East  and  the  West,  to  open  up  continuous  water  and  steam  navigation  of  maxi- 
mum capacity  from  the  Mississippi  Valley  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  as  the  most  important 
enterprise  of  its  character  that  has  ever  been  brought  before  the  American  people. 
The  West  must  have  cheap  transportation  to  the  East  and  to  Europe,  or  her  continued  develop- 
ment and  consequent  prosperity  will  be  materially  retarded. 

Even  now  we  begin  to  see  unmistakable  signs  of  such  a  crisis.  At  this  very  hour,  in  the 
interior  and  all  the  western  portions  of  Iowa,  and  all  of  Nebraska  and  Dakota,  the  pro- 
ducts of  the  farm,  after  deducting  interest  on  capital  invested,  expenses,  &c,  will  make 
the  agriculturist  only  a  meager  return  for  his  labor  in  raising  them.  Never  before  has 
Iowa  had  such  a  crop  of  corn,  wheat,  and  other  products  of  the  earth,  as  that  of  this  year. 
Yet  of  this  immense  production  little  or  none  can  be  shipped,  except  wheat  and  pork  ; 
and  the  prices  for  these  articles  rule  so  low  that  the  expense  of  getting  them  to  market 
consumes  the  greater  part  of  the  whole  crop.  This,  it  will  be  readily  seen,  cannot  long 
continue  without  producing  utter  prostration  of  our  agricultural  interests.  For  this 
state  of  affairs  a  partial,  if  not  a  full,  remedy  can  be  found  in  cheapened  transportation ; 
something  that  will  materially  reduce  the  expense  of  getting  this  wealth  of  field  and 
stock  to  market.  Railroads  cannot  meet  this  requirement.  More  than  eighteen  months 
ago  a  leading  northwestern  journal  stated  that  the  West  "  even  now  is  at  the  end  of  its 
transit  ability.  Not  another  ton  of  freight  can  be  removed  from  the  West  to  the  East 
with  its  present  means  and  facilities  of  transportation,  immense  as  they  confessedly 
are."  If  this  was  true  at  that  time,  (and  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  of  it,)  how 
much  more  emphatically  is  it  the  case  at  the  present  day  ;  the  facilities  of  transporta- 
tion, thus  fully  occupied  then,  have  not  been  increased  ;  yet  the  population  of  the  West 
has  in  that  period  of  time  been  augmented  by  nearly,  if  not  quite,  a  million  of  people, 
nine-tenths  of  whom  are  agriculturists,  who  by  their  industry  and  energy  are  adding 
immensely  to  her  agricultural  products,  even  while  the  fruits  of  their  labor  yield  them 
little  more  than  a  bare  living.  And  no  amount  of  probable  increase  of  railroad  facili- 
ties will  be  adequate  for  the  demand. 

The  advocates  of  the  contemplated  water-route  affirm  (and  I  fully  concur  with  them) 
that  it  is  the  only  agent  by  which  we  can  bring  about  cheap  transportation,  and  draw 
producer  and  consumer  together,  as  well  as  open  up  new  markets  in  Europe,  now  closed, 
to  us  because  of  the  cost  of  reaching  them.  The  friends  of  reform  therefore  urge  en- 
lightened, energetic,  and  representative  men,  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  to  come  up  to 
this  convention,  and  aid  in  devising  means  and  inaugurating  measures  to  facilitate  this 
great  work,  demanded  by  the  interests  of  the  East  and  the  West.  Cheapened  transporta- 
tion across  the  continent  means  cheap  food  for  the  sea-board,  and  cheaper  merchandise 
for  the  West.  Thus,  farmer,  merchant,  mechanic,  laborer,  East  and  West,  will  for  all 
time  be  benefited. 

Respectfullv  yours, 

SAMUEL  MERRILL, 

Governor  of  Iowa. 

Colonel  L.  A.  Thomas,  Dubuque,  loica. 

In  support  and  approval  of  the  action  of  the  Detroit  commercial 
convention,  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  on  the  22d  of  Decem- 
ber, 1871,  adopted  the  following  preamble  and  resolutions,  to  wit: 

Whereas  the  property  of  the  State  of  Illinois  is  to  be  measured  by  the  value  of  its 
products  at  the  sea-board ;  and 

Whereas,  if  the  cost  of  transport  of  the  cereals  to  tide-water  should  be  reduced  10 
cents  per  bushel  our  products  would  command  the  markets  of  all  Western  Europe;  and 

Whereas  a  movement  has  been  recently  inaugurated  by  the  national  board  of  trade, 
at  Saint  Louis,  seconded  by  a  commercial  convention  at  Detroit,  with  a  view  of  urging 
upon  Congress  the  necessity  of  the  construction  of  a  ship-canal  at  Niagara,  New  York, 
-connecting  Lake  Erie  with  Lake  Ontario:  Therefore, 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


11 


Resolved  by  the  senate,  (the  house  concurring  therein,)  That,  in  the  judgment  of  the  gen- 
eral assembly,  the  question  of  cheap  transportation  is  the  question  of  the  first  impor- 
tance to  all  our  producers. 

Resolved,  That  our  members  of  Congress  are  hereby  earnestly  requested  to  favor  such 
appropriations  for  the  construction  of  said  canal  as  shall  secure  its  immediate  com- 
mencement and  early  completion. 

Approved  December  23. 

MEMORIAL  TO  CONGRESS  OF  THE  IOWA  LEGISLATURE. — MEMORIAL  AND 
RESOLUTIONS  OF  THE  LEGISLATURE  OF  IOWA  IN  RELATION  TO  THE 
NIAGARA  FALLS  SHIP-CANAL. 

To  the  honorable  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  in  Congress 

assembled : 

Your  memorialists,  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  Iowa,  would  state  that  the  agri- 
cultural and  other  material  interests  of  the  entire  West,  and  .more  especially  of  this 
State,  require,  indeed  demand,  increased  facilities  for  transportation  between  the  grain- 
iields  of  the  West  and  the  eastern  and  European  markets  than  is  now  or  ever  can  be 
afforded  by  the  railroads  and  the  partial  and  imperfect  system  of  water-transit  now 
existing.  So  wide-spread  and  universal  has  this  conviction  become  disseminated  among 
the  people  of  the  West,  indeed  of  the  whole  country,  that  efforts  are  now  being  made, 
and  an  enterprise  inaugurated,  to  open  up  and  perfect  a  system  of  continuous  steam- 
navigation  between  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  Atlantic  sea-board,  by  the 
way  of  the  Wisconsin  and  Fox  Rivers,  to  Lake  Michigan,  thence  by  the  way  of  the 
northern  lakes,  river  Saint  Lawrence,  Lake  Champlain,  and  Hudson  River,  whereby  the 
rates  of  transportation  can  be  so  reduced  as  that  the  cereals  and  other  agricultural 
products  of  the  Western  States  can  at  once  command  the  provision-markets  of  Western 
Europe,  from  which  they  are  now  practically  excluded  in  consequence  of  the  excessive 
cost  of  transportation  thither.  There  is  an  equally  strong  conviction  that,  by  overcom- 
ing the  barrier  at  Niagara  Falls,  all  other  obstructions  to  continuous  navigation  to  the 
Atlantic  sea-board  will  be  speedily  removed — probably  as  soon  as  the  works  at  that 
point  can  be  constructed :  Therefore, 

Be  it  resolved  by  the  legislature  of  the  Slate  of  Iowa,  That  our  Senators  and  Representa- 
tives in  Congress  be,  and  they  are  hereby,  requested  to  give  their  earnest  attention  to 
this  subject;  and  if,  in  their  judgment,  this  enterprise  should  appear  to  be  feasible, 
and  that  it  will  conduce  to  the  object  sought  to  be  secured,  to  wit,  cheap  transporta- 
tion, to  urge  upon  Congress  that  such  aid  be  rendered  by  the  General  Government  as 
will  accomplish  the  end  in  view,  to  wit,  the  construction  of  a  ship-canal  around  the 

Falls  of  Niagara,  nu  the  American  side  thereof,  as  speedily  as  possible. 

#  *  #  #  *  *  * 

Approved  March  24,  1872. 

NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 

The  legislature  of  Kansas,  on  the  20th  day  of  January,  1872,  adopted 
the  following  preamble  and  resolutions  on  the  subject  of"  the  Niagara 
Falls  Ship-Canal,  to  wit: 

Preamble  and  resolutions  of  the  Stale  of  Kansas  to  Congress,  in  relation  to  the  Niagara  Falls 

Ship-Canal. 

Whereas  a  commercial  convention  of  business  and  other  representative  men  from 
different  portions  of  the  country,  both  East  aud  West,  was  held  at  Detroit,  in  the  State 
of  Michigan,  on  the  Pith  day  of  December  last,  to  take  into  consideration  the  practica- 
bility of  reducing  the  rates  and  cost  of  transportation  between  the  agricultural  States 
of  the  West  and  the  eastern  aud  European  markets,  by  opening  up  continuous  steam- 
navigation,  by  way  of  the  northern  lakes,  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean; 

And  whereas  said  convention  adopted  resolutions  requesting  Congress  to  assist  in 
that  enterprise  by  making  an  appropriation  adequate  to  the  construction  of  a  ship- 
canal  around  the  Falls  of  Niagara,  on  the  American  side;         *  *  * 

And  whereas  the  people  of  Kansas  have  ever  taken  a  deep  interest  in  all  questions 
and  enterprises  the  object  of  ■which  is  to  open  up,  extend,  and  perfect  the  means  and 
facilities  of  intercommunication  between  the  different  portions  of  our  country:  There- 
fore, 

Be  it  resolved  by  the  legislature  of  Kansas,  (the  senate  concurring,)  That  our  delegation 
in  Congress  be,  and  they  are  hereby,  requested  to  give  their  earnest  attention  to  this 
subject,  and  if,  in  their  judgment,  it  should  appear  to  be  feasible,  to  urge  upon  Con- 
gress that  such  aid  be  rendered  bv  the  General  Government  as  will  accomplish  the 
end  in  view.  *  *•  *  *  *  * 

Approved  January  21, 1872. 


12 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


The  legislature  of  Nebraska,  on  the  10th  day  of  January,  A.  D.  1872, 
adopted  like  resolutions. 

MINNESOTA  RESOLUTIONS  ON  THE  NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 

Preamble  and  resolutions  to  Congress  of  the  legislature  of  Minnesota  in  relation  to  the  Niagara 

Ship-Canal. 

Whereas  the  agricultural  aud  other  interests  of  the  entire  West,  and  morey especially 
of  this  State,  require  and  demand  increased  facilities  for  transportation  between  the 
grain-fields  of  the  West  and  the  eastern  and  European  markets,  than  is  now  or  ever 
can  he  afforded  by  the  railroads  and  the  partial  and  imperfect  system  of  water-transit 
now  existing ;  and 

Whereas  au  effort  is  now  being  made  to  open  up  and  perfect  a  system  of  continuous 
steam-navigation  between  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  Atlantic  sea-board,  by 
way  of  the  northern  lakes  and  river  Saint  Lawrence:  Therefore, 

Be  it  resolved  by  the  senate  and  house  of  representatives  of  the  legislature  of  Minnesota, 
That  Congress  be  requested  to  assist  in  that  enterprise  by  making  an  appropriation  at 
its  present  session,  adequate  to  the  work,  for  the  construction  of  a  ship-canal  around 
the  fails  of  Niagara,  on  the  American  side. 

Resolved,  That  our  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress  be  requested  to  use 
their  best  efforts  to  secure  an  appropriation  for  the  work  at  the  present  session. 

*#***■*.(■ 

Approved  February  13,  1872. 

MEMORIAL  OF  THE  WISCONSIN  LEGISLATURE  ON  THE  NIAGARA  SHIP- 
CANAL. 

Memorial  to  Congress  relating  to  a  ship-canal  around  Niagara  Falls. 

Your  memorialists,  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  would  respectfully  state 
that — 

W7hereas  to  insure  the  continued  development  and  consequent  prosperity  of  the  man- 
ufacturing and  commercial  interests  of  the  Eastern  States,  as  also  the  agricultural  and 
other  interests  of  the  West,  indeed  of  the  whole  country,  a  cheaper  system  of  trans- 
portation between  the  two  sections  thau  now  or  ever  can  exist  with  the  present  means 
and  facilities  by  railroad  and  the  limited  and  imperfect  system  of  water-transit  now 
existing  must  be  speedily  opened  up ;  and 

Whereas  the  main  aud  probably  the  only  means  of  securing  that  object,  to  wit,  "  cheap 
transportation,"  is  by  opening  up  a  continuous  steam-navigation  from  the  Mississippi 
Valley  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean  by  the  way  of  the  great  water-channels  of  the  continent, 
thereby  creating  competing  lines  of  transit  of  unlimited  capacity  between  the  grain- 
fields  of  the  West  and  the  eastern  and  European  markets  ;  the  most  serious,  indeed 
the  only  serious  obstacle  to  the  consummation  of  that  enterprise  by  the  way  of  the  great 
lakes,  river  Saint  Lawrence,  and  Lake  Champlain,  exists  at  Niagara  Falls;  and 

Whereas  another  movement  has  been  inaugurated  by  the  late  commercial  convention 
held  at  Detroit,  iu  the  State  of  Michigan,  in  December  last,  to  invoke  the  assistance  of 
the  General  Government  to  break  down  that  rocky  barrier  existing  between  Lakes  Erie 
and  Ontario,  as  speedily  as  possible:  Therefore, 

Resolved  by  the  assembly,  (the  senate  concurring,)  That  Congress  be  requested  to  make 
an  appropriation,  at  its  present  session,  for  the  construction  of  a  canal  around  the  falls 
of  Niagara,  on  the  American  side,  of  the  maximum  capacity  of  the  lakes,  as  speedily 
as  can  be  done  consistent  with  the  best  interests  of  the  country. 

Resolved,  That  our  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress  be  requested  to  use  their 
best  efforts  to  secure  such  an  appropriation  at  the  present  session. 

Approved  February  20,  1872. 

JOINT  RESOLUTION  OF  THE  LEGISLATURE  OF  THE  STATE  OF  OHIO  RE- 
LATING TO  THE  CONSTRUCTION  OF  A  SHIP-CANAL  AROUND  THE  FALLS 
OF  NIAGARA  WITHIN  THE  TERRITORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Whereas  a  commercial  convention  of  business  and  other  representative  men,  from  dif- 
ferent portions  of  the  country,  both  East  and  West,  was  held  at  Detroit,  in  the  State  of 
Michigan,  on  the  13th  day  of  December  last,  to  take  into  consideration  the  practica- 
bility of  reducing  the  rates  aud  cost  of  transportation  between  the  agricultural  States 
of  the  West  and  the  eastern  and  European  markets,  by  opening  up  continuous  steam- 
navigation  by  way  of  the  northern  lakes  and  river  Saint  Lawrence  to  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  ;  and 

Whereas  the  convention  adopted  resolutions  requesting  Congress  to  assist  in  that  en- 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


13 


ierprise,  by  making  an  appropriation  adequate  to  the  construction  of  a  ship-canal 
around  the  falls  of  Niagara,  on  the  American  side  thereof;  and 

Whereas  this  proposition  of  opening  up  new  and  competing  lines  of  transit  between 
the  West  and  East,  through  those  great  water-channels  of  the  continent,  thereby  re- 
ducing very  materially  the  cost  of  moving  the  vast  agricultural  and  other  products  of 
the  West  to  the  markets  of  the  world,  has  received  the  direct  sanction  of  the  legisla- 
tures of  most  of  the  Western  States  and  Territories,  and  more  especially  of  Illinois, 
Iowa,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  Dakota,  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  and  Michigan,  as  also  of  several 
of  the  New  England  States,  thereby  most  incontestably  proving  that  the  people  of  the 
whole  country  are  making  earnest  and  efficient  efforts  to  secure  greater  and  cheaper 
means  and  facilities  of  transportation  bet  ween  the  two  sections  of  our  country  ;  and 

Whereas  the  people  of  Ohio  have  ever  taken  a  deep  and  abiding  interest  in  all  ques- 
tions and  enterprises  the  object  of  which  has  been  to  open  up,  extend,  and  perfect  the 
means  and  facilities  of  intercommunication  between  the  different  sections  and  portions 
of  our  country,  thereby  materially  reducing  the  cost  of  transit  on  her  immense  and 
varied  industries:  Therefore, 

Beit  resolved  by  the  general  assembly  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  That  our  Senators  and  Represent- 
atives in  Congress  be,  and  they  are  hereby,  requested  to  give  their  earnest  attention  to 
this  subject ;  and  if,  in  their  judgment,  it  should  appear  to  be  feasible  and  to  subserve 
the  purpose  sought  to  be  secured,  (to  wit,  cheap  transportation,)  to  urge  upon  Congress 
that  such  aid  be  granted  to  the  enterprise,  by  the  General  Government,  as  shall  secure 
the  speedy  construction  of  the  aforesaid  ship-canal.  *  * 

Approved  April  5,  1872. 

STATE  OF  MAINE. 

KESOLVE3  in  relation  to  the  Niagara  Ship-Canal. 

Your  memorialists,  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  Maine,  would  state  that — 
Whereas,  to  insure  the  continued  development  and  consequent  prosperity  of  the  man- 
ufacturing and  commercial  interests  of  the  Eastern  States,  and  also  to  promote  in  the 
most  efficient  manner  the  agricultural  and  other  interests  of  the  West,  indeed  of  the 
whole  country,  a  system  of  cheaper  transportation  between  the  two  sections  than  now 
exists,  or  ever  can  be  secured  with  the  present  means  and  facilities  afforded  by  railroads 
and  the  limited  and  imperfect  system  of  water-transit,  must  be  speedily  opened  up  ; 

And  whereas  the  main  and  probably  the  only  means  of  securing  that  object,  to  wit, 
cheap  transportation,  is  by  opening  up  continuous  steam-navigation  from  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  by  the  way  of  the  great  water-channels  of  the  con- 
tinent, thereby  creating  competing  lines  of  transit  of  unlimited  capacity  between  the 
grain-fields  of  the  West  and  the  eastern  aud  European  markets ;  the  most  serious,  in- 
deed the  only  serious  obstacle  to  the  speedy  consummation  of  that  enterprise  by  way 
of  the  great  lakes,  river  Saint  Lawrence,  and  Lake  Champlaiu,  exists  at  Niagara 
Falls ; 

And  whereas  another  movement  has  been  inaugurated  by  the  late  commercial  con- 
vention, held  in  the  State  of  Michigan  iu  December  last,  to  invoke  the  assistance  of 
the  General  Government  to  break  down  that  rocky  barrier  existing  between  Lakes  Erie 
and  Ontario  as  speedily  as  possible :  Therefore, 

Be  it  resolved,  That  Congress  be  requested  to  make  an  appropriation  at  its  present  ses- 
sion for  the  construction  of  a  canal  around  the  falls  of  Niagara,  on  the  American  side,  of 
the  maximum  capacity  of  the  lakes,  as  speedily  as  can  be  done  consistent  with  the  best 
interest  of  the  whole  country. 

Resolved,  That  our  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress  be  requested  to  use  their 
best  efforts  to  secure  such  an  appropriation  at  the  present  session. 

Resolved,  That  duly  authenticated  copies  of  this  preamble  and  resolutions  be  trans- 
mitted to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  the  President  of  the  Senate,  and  Speaker 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  with  request  that  they  lay  them  before  their  respective 
houses,  aud  to  each  of  onr  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives,  February  2d,  1872. 

Read  and  passed  finally. 

FREDERICK  ROBIE, 

Speaker. 

In  Senate,  February  2d,  1872. 

Read  and  passed  finally. 

REUBEN  FOSTER, 

F  resident. 

February  29,  1872. 

Approved. 

SIDNEY  PERHAM, 

Governor. 


14 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


State  of  Maine,  Office  of  Secretary  of  State, 

A ugusta,  December  19,  1872. 
I  hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  true  copy  of  the  original  as  depositel  in  this 
office. 

[seal.]  .  GEO.  G.  STACY, 

Secretary  of  State. 


Concurrent  resolution  in  relation  to  the  proposed  slop-canal  around  Xiayara  Falls. 

Whereas  the  annual  products  of  the  States  bordering  upon  and  tributary  to  the. 
northern  lakes  are  largely  in  excess  at  the  present  time  (and  are  rapidly  increasing)  of 
the  capacity  for  transportation  of  all  the  avenues  to  the  Eastern  States  and  the  sea- 
board, demonstrating  the  necessity  of  enlarged  water  facilities  for  communication  be- 
tween the  West  and  the  East ;  and 

Whereas  the  State  of  Michigan  is  deeply  interested  in  the  matter  of  opening  a 
cheaper  and  more  expeditious  mode  of  transportation  by  water  than  now  exists  be- 
tween this  State  and  the  Atlantic  sea-board: 

Besolred  by  the  house  of  representatives,  (the  senate  concurring,)  That  Congress  be  re- 
quested to  make  an  appropriation,  either  in  money  or  laud,  as  soon  as  can  be  done  con- 
sistently with  the  best  interests  of  the  country,  for  the  construction  of  a  ship-canal 
around  Niagara  Falls,  from  Lake  Erie  to  Lake  Ontario,  upon  the  best,  cheapest,  and 
safest  plan,  capable  of  transferring  vessels  of  not  less  than  two  thousand  tons  burden, 
in  the  most  expeditious  manner  practicable. 

Besolred,  That  our  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress  be,  and  they  are  hereby, 
requested  to  use  their  efforts  to  procure  an  appropriation  for  the  construction  of  said 
canal  at  as  early  a  day  as  is  practicable. 

Resolved,  That  duly,  authenticated  copies  of  these  resolutions  be  transmitted  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  the  President  of  the  Senate,  and  the  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  with  the  request  that  they  lay  the  same  before  their  respective 
houses;  and  also  to  each  of  our  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress. 

Approved  March  25, 1872. 

State  of  Michigan, 

Office  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  ss : 

I,  Daniel  Striker,  secretary  of  state  of  the  State  of  Michigan,  do  hereby  certify  that 
I  have  compared  the  annexed  copy  of  concurrent  resolution  in  relation  to  the  proposed 
ship-canal  around  Niagara  Falls  with  the  original  on  file  in  this  office,  and  that  it  is  a 
true  and  correct  transcript  therefrom,  and  of  the  whole  of  such  original. 

In  testimony  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  affixed  the  great  seal  of  the 
State  of  Michigan,  at  Lansing,  this  12th  day  of  December,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  seveutv-two. 

[seal.]  G.  M.  HASTY, 

Deputy  Serretary  of  State. 


AGRICULTURAL  STATISTICS. 

The  foregoing  are  but  a  few  brief  extracts  from  a  vast  amount  of 
evidence  which  for  years  has  been  and  still  is  accumulating  of  the  ex- 
pression of  the  convictions  of  the  people  in  all  parts  of  the  country  of 
the  imperative  necessity  for  cheap  transportation  between  the  grain- 
fields  of  the  West  and  the  eastern  and  European  markets.  But  the 
necessity  for  securing  to  the  West  this  much-coveted  boon  by  some 
means  other  than  those  now  existing  will  be  more  apparent  if  we  ex- 
amine a  few  of  the  products  of  the  great  agricultural  States  clustering 
around  the  northern  lakes,  and  stretching  away  across  the  valleys  of  the 
Mississippi  and  Missouri  Rivers  toward  the  mountains,  to  wit:  Ohio. 
Kentucky,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  Dakota,* 
Iowa,  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  and  Michigan.  These  twelve  States  pro- 
duce more  than  three-fourths  of  all  the  cereals  and  other  provisions  and 
products  of  the  entire  country,  as  the  following  tables  most  clearly  and 
conclusively  demonstrate  : 


*  Although  a  Territory,  for  brevity  and  convenience,  we  call  Dakota  a  State. 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL.  15 


Ulieat  statistics  of  those  States  for  the  years  1867  to  1871,  inclusive. 


States. 

1867. 

1868. 

1S69. 

1870. 

1871. 

Obio  

Indiana  

Illinois  

Missouri  

Nebraska  

Dakota  

18,  000.  000 
16,  861,  000 
2,  t<47,  000 
28,  000,  000 
4,061,000 
1.330,  CO  J 
1,000,  000 

17,  550,  000 
17,  336,  000 

2.  8.'.0,  000 
28|  500,  000 

5,  357,  001) 

3,  800.  000 
1,  565.  000 

100,  000 
20,  350,  000 
14,  500,  000 
22,  60  ',  000 
16,  012,  t'00 

20,  400.  000 
20,  000,  000 
5,  500,  000 
29,  20  ',  000 
7,  500,  000 
1,  537,  000 
1,  000,  000 
130,  000 
25,  000,  000 
19,  000,  000 
24,100,  OCO 
16,  800,  000 

21,270,  OCO 
20,  170,  COO 

5,  610,  COO 
27,  115,  000 

6,  750,  000 
2,  343,  COO 
1,  848,  OCO 

17,x,  OCO 
37,  500,  OCO 
20,  2!  0,  000 
26,  400,  OCO 
18,  480,  000 

21,  830,  COO 
21,560,  000. 

5,  930,  000 
24,  740,  000 

8,  050,  000 

2,  577,  300 

3,  032,  000 
200,  000 

?,0,  250.  000 
22,319,  000 
29,  040.  COO 
20,  328,  OOO 

Michigan  

16,  300,  000 
10.  000,  000 
22,  000.  000 
15,  250,  0. 0 

Total  

136,  969,  00J  :  149.520,000 

! 

no,  0;j7,  ooo 

178,  154,  000 

193,  876,  300- 

Com  statistics  for  the  same  years. 


States. 


Ohio  

Kentucky  . 
Indiana  ... 

Illinois  

Missouri  . . 

Kansas  

Nebraska  . 

Dakota  

Iowa  

Minnesota 
Wiscousin 
Michigan  . 


Total. 


1861 


64,  000.  000 
46,  550,  000 
80,  000,  000 
109,  000,  000 
50,  437,  000 
8, 150,  000 
2,  325,  000 
70,  000, 
53,  333,  000 
4,  500,  000 
9,  885,  000 
15, 118,  OCO 


1868. 


53, 
90, 
134, 
60, 
8, 
3, 

65, 
8, 
13, 
18, 


000,  000 
ls7,  000 
832, 000 
333,  000 
C67.000 
487,  000 
185,  000 
103,  000 
339, 000 
255,  000 
565,  000 
815,  000 


443,368.000  535,038.000 


1810. 


1871. 


83,  000, 
51,  5  0, 
100,  000, 
123,  500, 
80,  500, 
24,  500, 
6,  750, 
130, 
85.  270, 
14,  230, 
16,  180, 
21,870, 


000  ; 
000  i 
000  1 
000  I 
000  j 
000  | 
000 
000 

ooo  ! 

000 
000 
000 


87,  751.000 
63,  345,  000 
113,  150,  OCO 
201,378,  000 
94,  990,  000 
26,  950,  000 
7,  425,  000 
145,  000 
93,  797,  000 
15,  653,  000 
19,  995.  000 
24,  057,  000 


607,430,000  748,636,000 


Note. — It  is  estimated  by  the  best  and  most  reliable  authorities  on  this  subject  that 
the  corn  crop  of  these  States  was  at  least  one-fourth  greater  in  1872  than  in  1871,  or 
any  previous  year.  If  that  be  a  correct  estimate,  and  of  that  there  can  be  but  little 
if  any  doubt,  it  amounted  to  the  enormous  aggregate  of  1,349,*285,175  bushels. 


Hog  statistics  of  those  States  for  the  same  years. 


States. 

1867. 

1868. 

1869.  1870. 

1871. 

Ohio  

Kentucky  

Nebraska  

2,139,  991 

1,  300, 156 

2,  581,369 
2,  181,  734 
1,  741,  154 

140,  662 
54,  968 

2,  194, 163 

1,  560, 186 

2,  007,  195 
2,  042,  938 
2,  042,  438 

160,  848 
65,  637 

2,  694,170 
1,955,  000 

2,  590,  369 

3,  160,  OtO 

2,  300,  000 
516,000 
125,  000 

13,  000 

3,  500,  000 
187,  330 
471,602 
443,  357 

2,  033,  000 
1,994,  100 
2,  349,  000 
.3,  363,  OCO 

2,  530,  000 
572,  600 

. 137,  500 
14,  000 

3,  H  0,  000 
205,  953 
651.  L00 
517,  400 

17,  468,  453 

2,  266,  000 
2, 193,  510 

3,  583,  900 
3,  699.  300 
3,  7c3,  000 

629,  860 
151.250 
21,  100 
3,4H',(00 
226, 546 
717, 090 
509, 140 

19,  8?7,  686 

Iowa  

Minnesota  

Michigan  

Total  



1,  748,  853 
150,  795 
378,  555 
418,342 

1,  948,  059 
158,  732 
421,  608 
441,  608 

12,  836,  879 

13,  043,  912 

15,  945,  108 

16  NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


Cattle  statistics  of  those  States  during  those  years. 


States. 

1867. 

1868. 

1869. 

1870. 

1871. 

Missouri  

Iowa  

1,  415,  000 
491,048 
892,  000 

1,  395,  000 
843,  097 
235,  860 
114,  011 

1,  013,  894 
349,  000 
753,  601 

1,  496,  750 
479,  303 
906,  0  0 

1,  457,  000 
939,  491 
354,  000 
142,  762 

1, 103.  503 
318.  241 
794, 158 

1,415,  866 
629,  500 
1,  000,  000 
1,  535,  000 
1,  306,  000 
274.  572 
161,300 
1, 162,  000 
334,  400 
813,  800 
81,711 
602,  837 

1,535, 100 
627,  600 
1, 185,  500 
1,  907,  410 
1,  376,  0G0 
507,  600 
177,  435 
1,  280,  200 
382,  500 
895,  080 
89,  882 
715,  400 

1,  688,  610 
690,  360 

1,  304,  050 

2,  098, 140 
1,  513,  600 

'  558]  360 
195, 180 
1,  408,  220 
420,  750 
984,  588 
98,  870 
786,  940 

Total  

604,  837 

651,  761 

8,  207,  348         9,  991,  969 

9,  323,  986 

10,  679,  697 

11,  745,  668 

Sheejy  statistics  of  those  States  for  the  same  year*. 

States. 

1867. 

1868.  1869. 

1870. 

1871. 

Ohio....  

Indiana  

Kansas  

Dakota  

6,  730, 126 
895,  865 
2,  882, 176 
2,  736,  431 
1,  377,  547 
76,  342 
22,  059 

6,  300.  000 
868,  989 
2.  622,  780 
2,  38C,  694 
1,  584, 179 
107,  896 
28,  078 

7,  160,  252 
942,  000 

3.  141,  582 
3;  092,  288 
2,  300,  000 

120,  COD 
35,  030 
10,  120 
2,  850,517 
162,  220 
2,012,  412 

4,  343,  011 

8,  876,  277 
904,  300 
3,  200,  000 

3,  401,  505 
2,  500,  000 

115,  000 
42,  290 
12,  230 
2,  293,  100 
180,  259 
2,810,320 

4,  701,  000 

9,  763,  904 
994,  730 
3,  280,  000 

3,  741,  655 
2,  800,  000 

130,  000 
51,  430 
15,  471 
2,  563, 124 
210,  030 
2,  910,  029 

4,  981,  263 

Minnesota  

Wisconsin  

Michigan  

Total  

2,  591,  37!) 
129,  010 

1,  880,  758 

3,  948, 191 

2,332,241 
134,  170 
1,749,104 
3,  553,  371 

23,  269,  S84 

21,661,512 

26, 169,  532 

29,  036,  281 

31,  441,  736 

WHEAT-PRODUCT  IN  1870-'71. 

From  the  foregoing  statistics,  compiled  from  the  agricultural  reports 
at  Washington,  State  agricultural  reports,  and  other  equally  reliable 
sources,  we  find  that  in  those  twelve  States  the  wheat-product  for  1870 
was  178,151,000  bushels,  while  all  other  portions  of  the  Union,  including 
the  Pacific  States,  produced  only  about  67,730,700.  In  1871  the  wheat 
crop  of  these  States  amounted  to  193,876,300  bushels,  all  the  other  por- 
tions of  the  country  producing  about  78,530,000  bushels.  In  other  words, 
those  States,  two-thirds  of  which  are  not  yet  one-sixth  developed,  pro- 
duced more  than  two-thirds  of  the  entire  wheat  crop  of  the  whole 
country.  In  1872  the  wheat-crop  of  those  States  amounted  to  about 
225,000.000  bushels    In  all  other  States,  to  86,383,000  bushels. 

CORN- CROP  FOR  THE  YEARS  1870  AND  1871. 

In  1870  the  entire  corn  crop  of  the  whole  country  amounted  to 
1,094,255,000  bushels;  of  which  those  States  produced  748,636,000 
bushels.  In  1871  the  whole  corn  crop  of  the  country  was  1,203,680,500 
bushels,  of  which  those  twelve  States  produced  919,323,060  bushels, 
leaving  but  284,457,440  bushels  for  all  the  balance  of  the  country.  In 
1872  those  States  produced  about  1,349,285,175  bushels,  and  that,  too, 
when  several  of  them  are  not  and  never  can  be  adapted  to  corn-raising — 
especially  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Minnesota — and  while  two  others, 
to  wit,  Dakota  and  Nebraska,  are  hardly  developed  at  all.  This  is  the 
more  remarkable  when  we  take  into  consideration  the  farther  fact  that 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


17 


all  the  States  lying  south  of  them  are  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  corn. 

HOG  STATISTICS  FOR  THE  YEARS  1870  AND  1871. 

In  1870  those  twelve  States  raised  15,468,453  hogs,  while  all  the  rest 
of  the  Union,  including  the  Pacific  States,  raised  only  13,987,048  hogs. 
In  1871  those  States  raised  19,250,686  hogs;  all  other  portions  of  the 
country,  15,387,996  hogs.  The  same  remarks  apply  to  this  branch  of 
industry  as  to  the  corn  crop.  With  this  additional  fact,  that  the  hogs 
raised  in  those  States  average  about  300  pounds  each,  while  those  raised, 
in  other  States  do  not  average  over  200  pounds  each.  This  discrepancy 
arises  partly  from  the  greater  abundance  of  corn  and  other  suitable  food, 
and  partly  from  the  larger  and  superior  breeds  raised.  Thus,  those 
twelve  States,  in  fact,  raise  about  three-fourths  of  all  the  pork,  bacon, 
and  lard  of  the  whole  country. 

CATTLE  STATISTICS. 

In  1S70  those  States  raised  10,679,697  cattle;  all  other  portions  of  the 
country,  including  the  Pacific  States,  raised  16,555,503.  The  weight  of 
beef,  however,  is  in  about  the  same  proportion,  owing  unmistakably  to 
the  same  causes,  to  wit,  more  abundant  food  and  better  breeds.  In  1871 
these  States  had  11,745,668  cattle  ;  all  other  portions  of  the  country  about 
17,111,056.  They  had  in  these  two  years  about  4,696,700  milch-cows ; 
all  other  portions  of  the  Union,  5,326,300;  only  three  of  which  are  par- 
ticularly devoted  to  this  branch  of  industry,  to  wit,  Ohio,  Indiana,  and 
Michigan. 

SHEEP  STATISTICS. 

In  1870  those  States  had  29,036,281  sheep;  all  the  rest  of  the  Union 
11,816,719.  In  1871  they  had  31,441,736 ;  all  the  balance  of  the  country 
about  12,998,390.  Allowing  one  and  a  half  pounds  of  wool  to  the  head, 
and  those  States  raised,  in  1871,  47,162,604  pounds  of  wool ;  all  other 
portions  of  the  country  produced  19,497,585  pounds. 

But  it  is  not  necessary  to  pursue  these  comparisons  any  further.  We 
can,  upon  the  authority  of  these  statistics,  which  we  affirm  are  entirely 
reliable,  assume,  without  the  fear  of  successful  contradiction,  that  those 
twelve  States  produce  more  than  two-thirds  of  all  the  agricultural 
staples  of  the  whole  country ;  and  that  all  the  surplus,  to  supply  the 
markets  of  our  own  country,  as  also  of  Europe,  comes  almost  exclusively 
from  those  States,  while  not  one  of  them  is  more  than  one-fourth  devel- 
oped, and  more  than  half  not  one-tenth.  This  state  of  facts  will  always 
remain.  The  country  lying  west  of  the  lakes,  and  north  of  the  thirty- 
eighth  parallel  of  north  latitude,  will  always,  in  all  time,  continue  to 
be  the  food-producing  portions  of  the  continent.  No  revolutions  of  trade 
or  commerce,  or  increased  facilities  for  transportation  in  other  portions 
of  the  country,  or  of  any  other  land,  will  ever  rival  much  less  supersede 
this,  in  its  peculiar  agricultural  resources.  These  resources  are  being- 
developed,  in  a  most  unprecedented  degree,  by  the  rapid  extension  of 
railroads  through  all  portions  of  the  country.  To  get  a  more  correct 
estimate  of  the  necessity  of  this  work,  we  should  look  a  few  years 
ahead,  and  ascertain  what  the  productions  of  the  country,  and  especially 
those  States,  will  be  a  few  years  hence;  for  instance^  in  1880,  allowing 
an  annual  increase  of  10  per  cent.,  which  is  a  very  moderate  estimate, 
and  the  account  will  stand  thus:  Wheat,  512,512,597  bushels;  corn, 
H.  Mis.  22  2 


18 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


2.572,951,383  bushels;  bogs,  41,028,595  bead;  cattle,  25,153,678  bead; 
sbeep,  67,398,146  bead ;  wool,  101,097,219  pounds.  The  foregoing  will 
be  the  probable  products  of  the  five  great  agricultural  staples  of 
those  twelve  States  in  1880.  But.  with  the  present  products  of  those 
States,  the  present  means  and  facilities  of  transportation  to  the  eastern 
markets  are  so  meager,  and  the  charges  so  high,  that  they  are  of  very 
little  value  to  the  producer. 

The  following  notice  appeared  in  the  Des  Moines  (Iowa)  Daily  Register 
of  10th  November  last,  and  other  Iowa  papers,  to  wit : 

The  proprietors  of  the  Ogdeu  House,  in  Council  Bluffs,  are  using  corn  as  a  common 
article  of  fuel  in  all  the  rooms  of  their  extensive  establishment,  iinding  it  altogether 
cheaper  and  more  economical  than  either  wood  or  coal,  although  the  price  of  neither 
is  extravagant — indeed,  is  very  moderate. 

And  this  other  item  appeared  about  the  same  time  in  a  paper  published 
in  the  Missouri  Valley,  in  Iowa  : 

We  are  informed,  which  is  no  doubt  correct,  that  the  farmers  in  all  the  prairie 
country  of  this  valley  are  burning  their  corn  for  fuel,  riuding  it  altogether  cheaper  and 
more  economical  than  wood  or  coal,  although  the  latter,  of  excellent  quality,  can  be  ob- 
tained at  any  of  the  railroad-stations  at  from  f>3  to  $3.50  per  ton ;  and  wood  will  not 
exceed  $4  per  cord,  We  may  well  ask.  what  are  we  all  coming  to?  Are  we  never  to 
have  any  relief  from  this  state  of  affairs  ?  Corn  in  New  York  City  is  at  least  85  cents 
a  bushel,  and  here  our  people  are  burning  it  to  keep  themselves  from  freezing.  Other 
agricultural  products  are  nearly  as  worthless.  It  will  take  three  bushels  of  wheat  and 
three  fat  hogs  to  get  the  fourth  to  market.  There  is  a  grievous  wrong  somewhere.  Is 
it  in  Congress?   We  should  be  reluctant  to  believe  so. 

In  all  other  parts  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  the  same  state  of  affairs 
exists.  Even  iu  Michigan,  within  one  hundred  miles  of  Detroit,  corn  is 
also  almost  worthless. 

General  Hersey,  of  Portland,  Maine,  stated  iu  the  Detroit  commercial 
convention  of  December  13,  1871,  about  one  year  ago : 

The  farmers  of  the  West  are  burning  their  corn  for  fuel,  while  we,  in  the  East,  are 
famishing  for  the  want  of  it. 

COUNTRY  LYING  WEST  OF  THOSE  STATES. 

But  the  necessity  for  increased  facilities  of  transportation  will  be  still 
more  apparent  when  we  take  into  consideration  the  fact  that  there  is  a 
country  west  of  those  States,  equally  fertile  and  productive,  now  being 
rapidly  developed  by  the  extension  through  it  of  the  Northern  Pacific 
and  other  railroads,  of  more  than  three  times  their  aggregate  area.  The 
country  being  developed  by  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  alone  (in- 
cluding the  north  half  of  Minnesota  and  Dakota,  and  the  British  pos- 
sessions) embraces  an  area  of  more  than  one  million  square  miles.  The 
sun  does  not  shine  upon  a  more  beautiful  or  a  more  productive  country. 
Although  lying,  upon  an  average,  more  than  five  hundred  miles  farther 
north,  it  still  has  the  climate  of  Philadelphia.  This  extraordinary  physi- 
cal phenomenon  exists  from  the  fact  that  "the  Northeast  trade- winds," 
which,  sweeping  up  from  the  tropics  of  the  Central  Pacific  Ocean,  come 
through  the  immense  gorge  (or  plain,  rather)  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
caused  by  the  interlocking  of  the  bead-waters  of  the  Missouri  and  Colum- 
bia Rivers,  (thereby  breaking  down  that  rocky  barrier,)  and  overspread 
that  whole  region  of  country,  as  far  north  as  Hudson's  Bay;  imparting 
to  it  the  soft  and  genial  climate  of  the  Pacific  coast.  This  is  the  true 
and  correct  explanation  of  the  sudden  "  trending  "  north  of  the  isothermal 
lines,  from  the  head  of  Lake  Superior,  as  delineated  upon  all  isothermal 
maps  of  the  present  day.  The  unbroken  ranges  of  the  Sierra  Nevada 
and  Rocky  Mountains  cut  off  those  genial  trade- winds  from  all  portions 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


19 


6f  "  the  great  valley,"  lying  farther  south.  Having  to  encounter  alti- 
tudes of  almost  perpetual  snow  and  ice,  those  winds  often,  especially 
during  the  winter,  come  sweeping  down  in  chilling  blasts  upon  all  the 
central  and  southern  portions  of  that  valley. 

In  Texas — indeed,  in  the  whole  Gulf  region — they  are  called  M  the 
northers."  in  winter  the  terror  and  dread  alike  of  men  and  animals. 

The  following  extract,  taken  from  the  report  of  Mr.  Engineer  Johnson, 
of  the  North  Pacific  Railroad,  gives  a  better  description  of  the  region 
traversed  by  that  road  than  anything  we  can  produce  from  any  other 
source : 

Middlktowx.  Connecticut.  February  1-',  136=?. 
I  am  convinced  that,  before  another  generation  has  passed,  very  great  changes  will 
take  place  in  the  belt  of  country  to  be  traversed  by  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad.  A 
field  is  opening  there  for  enterprise,  the  magnitude  of  which  cannot  be  easily  estimated. 
It  will  not  be  confined  merely  to  the  belt  of  country  between  the  Lakes  and  the  Pacific, 
bnt  include  the  broad  Pacific  itself,  and  the  densely  peopled  portions  of  Eastern  Asia, 
bringing  half  the  globe,  where  labor  rules  the  lowest,  into  direct  and  profitable  com- 
munication with  our  great  centers  of  commerce.  I  entertain  no  doubt  of  the  capability 
of  this  region  to  sustain  a  large  population.  I  have  recently  been  looking  over  the 
statistics  of  France,  and  rind  a  great  similarity  between  the  two.  The  annual  rain-fall 
throughout  France  is  21  inches,  less  than  the  average  between  Lake  Superior  and  the 
Pacific.  One-seventh  of  the  surface  of  France  is  set  down  as  waste  and  worthless,  a 
larger  proportion,  I  think,  than  can  be  found  on  this  line.  In  coal  and  other  valuable 
minerals  this  line  has  greatly  the  advantage.  The  proportion  of  cultivable  land  is 
doubtless  in  favor  of  France.  If  half  as  densely  populated  as  France,  there  is  room 
for  more  than  fifty  million  souls  on  this  Lake  and  Pacific  belt. 

The  above-described  area  does  not  include  the  valleys  of  the  Upper 
Missouri  and  its  principal  tributaries,  now  an  almost  unknown  and  un- 
broken wilderness.  A  gentleman  residing  at  Helena,  Montana  Territory, 
who  is  a  native  of  Iowa,  and  well  acquainted  with  all  portions  of  the 
Mississippi  Valley,  lately  stated  to  Colonel  L.  A.  Thomas,  one  of  the 
committee,  that  in  his  estimation  the  valley  of  the  Gallatin  River 
(one  of  the  principal  tributaries  of  the  Missouri  above  the  falls)  is  the 
very  garden  of  the  continent :  and  that  the  valleys  of  many  other  of 
its  tributaries  are  very  nearly,  if  not  quite,  equal  to  it.  This  region  is 
attracting  considerable  attention,  and  emigration  to  it.  in  consequence 
of  its  great  fertility  of  soil  and  geniality  of  climate.  The  lower  valley 
(  to  the  first  rapids;  is  more  than  sixty  miles  long  and  thirty  wide,  nearly 
every  quarter-section  of  which  is  susceptible  of  cultivation.  Montana 
alone  can,  and  when  developed  by  the  extension  of  railroads  through  it 
will,  produce  annually  more  than  one  hundred  million  bushels  of  wheat. 
This,  however,  never  can  be  done  with  the  present  means  and  facilities 
of  transportation  from  the  lakes  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  because  the 
cost  of  transit  thither  will  consume  the  whole  crop.  If  we  tur  n  our  eyes 
still  farther  to  the  Northwest)  the  same  expanse  of  unbroken  wheat-fields 
stretch  away  toward  the  mountains  and  the  setting  faun.  The  Saskatch- 
ewan River  has  a  navigation,  for  large  steamers,  of  more  than  one 
thousand  miles,  with  a  fer  tile  valley  more  than  fitty  miles  wide  in  nearly 
its  whole  length.  But  its  fertile  acres  are  worthless,  because  their  wheat- 
crops,  wheu  raised,  would  be  worthless.  Their  cost  of  transportation  to 
a  market  would  be  greater  than  the  price  they  would  command  in  those 
markets. 

There  is  one  fact,  not  often,  if  ever,  referred  to  by  writers  or  others, 
which  will  make  the  Rocky  Mountain  region — indeed,  all  those  vast 
plains  lying  west  of  the  Missouri,  including  Western  Texas,  the  Indian 
country,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  and  Dakota,  in  the  United  States,  and 
Manitoba,  in  the  British  possessions — the  best,  most  permanent,  as 
well  a>  most  productive,  wheat-producing  portion  of  the  entire  continent, 


20 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


and  that  i8  its  mineral  gases  and  salts  disseminated  through  the  soil- 
That  whole  region  is  volcanic,  and  has  in  abundance  (in  some  places  in 
superabundance)  the  mineral  salts,  as  sulphur,  alkali,  ammonia,  and 
other  minerals,  which  constitute  the  food  for  all  kinds  of  plants  and 
cereals,  especially  wheat.  On  those  plains  that  alkali  strata  is  a  volcanic 
drift  of  hard,  ash-colored,  stiff  clay,  intermixed  with  rock  and  coarse 
gravel,  forming  a  layer  from  ten  to  seventy-rive  feet  in  thickness,  the 
average  being,  probably,  thirty  feet.  Above  this  is  a  deposit  of  black 
mold,  of  from  one  to  three  feet  in  thickness,  intermixed  with  about  15 
per  cent,  of  white  sand.  When  the  surface  is  broken  this  alkaline  and 
other  minerals  crystallize  in  a  white  powder  all  over  the  surface,  and 
especially  in  the  ditches,  along  the  railroads,  looking  like  a  deep  layer 
or  fall  of  snow.  Beneath  this  alkaline  strata  is  a  layer  of  coarse  gravel, 
several  feet  thick,  in  which  is  found  pure,  soft  water,  of  the  very  best 
quality.  The  same  alkaline  and  other  mineral  salts  is  found  in  all  vol- 
canic countries,  as  in  the  Andes,  in  South  America.  Chili  is  one  of  the 
best  and  most  productive  wheat  countries  in  the  world.  So  of  the  regions 
around  Mounts  ^Etna  and  Vesuvius;  for  more  than  three  thousand  years 
they  have  been  the  grain-fields  of  Western  Europe.  The  same  is  true  of 
all  other  volcanic  regions.  Hence,  when  wheat-culture  is  driven  out  of 
the  valleys  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  Ohio  Kivers,  it  will  flourish  in  the 
Missouri  Valley,  on  the  western  plains  beyond,  and  up  among  the  moun- 
tains, indeed  everywhere,  where  is  found  this  "  alkaline  drift.'7  Fifty 
years  hence  that  region  will  constitute  the  wheat-fields  of  the  continent — 
indeed,  of  the  world;  and  a  thousand  years  hence  they  will  be  as  good 
as  new,  because  those  mineral  salts  will  be  as  abundant  as  now.  Then 
"subsoiling"  may,  perhaps,  be  a  good  thing,  and  probably  not  before. 
Experiments  in  beet  culture  for  several  years  past  in  California,  Nevada, 
Montana,  and  other  sections  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  region,  clearly 
demonstrate  that  those  alkaline  plains  are  better  adapted  to  the  sugar- 
beet  than  any  other  portion  of  the  continent,  and  probably  of  the  world. 
For  that  culture  there  cannot  well  be  a  superabundance  of  alkali. 

But  perhaps  we  can  get  a  more  definite,  and,  at  the  same  time,  a  more 
comprehensive  idea  of  the  almost  boundless  extent  of  the  country 
drained  by,  or  tributary  to,  the  great  chain  of  lakes  lying  along  our 
northern  frontier,  if  we  carefully  examine  the  following  tables  relating 
thereto.  It  will  be  observed  that  those  lakes  have  an  aggregate  coast- 
line of  4,281  miles,  very  nearly  equal  to  the  entire  sea-coast  line  of  the 
whole  country,  and  nearly  one-half  the  sea-coast  line  of  the  whole  North 
American  continent  within  the  line  of  the  temperate  or  inhabitable  re- 
gions. If  to  this  we  add  the  aggregate  coast-line  of  the  lake  region, 
including  that  of  Hudson's  Bay  in  Manitoba,  it  will  give  a  coast-line 
of  the  lake  region  of  the  North  American  continent  of  more  than  ten 
thousand  miles.  All  these  lakes,  except,  perhaps,  Hudson's  Bay,  lie 
within  the  wheat-growing  districts  of  the  continent.  And  all  that 
boundless  wiieat-region  is  necessarily  tributary  to  the  proposed  water- 
route  down  the  lakes  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 

Magnitude,  altitude,  depth,  area,$-c.,  of  the  great  lakes. 


21 


English  statute  miles. 

Depth,  in  feet. 

ea  at 

it 
= 
© 

ca 
g 

03 

,1 
© 

it 

coast-line. 

© 
© 

©  © 

«^ 

« 1  ■ 

© 
o 

$ 
o 

© 

[lea 

© 

ean. 

« 

W 

'3 

5 

390 

160 

60 

1,030 

1,000 
1,  200 
900 

900 

32,  000 
22,  400 

600  feet. 

345 

84 

58 

665 

1,000 
450 

578  feet. 

270 

105 

70 

705 

23,  000 
2,  150 

574  feet. 

Georgian  Bay  

130 

55 

40 

260 

700 

320 

574  feet. 

Saint  Clair.!  

25 

25 

20 

60 

60 

18 

80 

588  feet. 

Erie  

250 

60 

38 

570 

204 

90 

10,  000 
6,  700 
1, 130 

564  feet. 

Ontario  

190 

52 

40 

410 

600 

400 

234  feet. 

120 

15 

10 

260 

282 

54 

90  feet. 

1,  000 

2,  000 

Tide-water. 

2,  720 

5,  960 

116,  460 



nitude,  altitude,  depth,  area,  $c.%  of  lakes  in  British  America. 


Kainy  Lake  

Lake  of  the  Woods 

AVinuipeg  

Wollaston  

Athabaska  

Big  Slave  Lake  

Hudson's  Bay  

Nipigon  Lake  

Nipissing  Lake  

Simcoe  

Rivers   


English  statute  miles. 


300 
190 

220  | 
100  j 
220  ! 
380 

1,  320 
100 

40 
35 

2,  000 

5,  005 


20 
36 
32 
12 
28 
44 
530 
55 
12 
10 


810 
315 
410 
215 
441 

1,  200 

2,  640 
320 
120 
108 

4,  000 

9,  57y 


Depth  in  feet. 


250 
300 
320 
120 
220 
320 
1,  50J 
280 
90 
120 


-  <d 


80 
130 
140 

80 
180 
240 
980 
120 

65 

94 


4,  200 

3,  100 
8,  400 
1,  200 

4,  630 
12,  320 
12,320 

830 
720 


330  feet. 
267  feet. 
178  feet. 

95  feet. 

80  feet. 
230  feet. 
Tide-water. 
630  feet. 
651  feet. 
704  feet. 


48,  600 


Distance  from  Chicago,  via  Wetland  Canal  and  Montreal,  to  Neva  York  City. 


Miles. 

Lake  navigation   1,005 

River  navigation   185 

Canal  navigation   71 


To  Montreal   1,261 

Montreal  to  Whitehall   145 

From  Whitehall  to  Albany   66 

From  Albany  to  New  York   150 

  365 


Whole  distance  from  Chicago  to  New  York   1,  626 

New  York  to  Liverpool   3, 150 


Whole  distance  from  Chicago  to  Liverpool,  via  Montreal  and  New  York  4,  776 


oo 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


Whole  distance  from  Ckioago  to  Liverpool,  via  River  and  Gulf  of  Saint  Laurenc 

Miles. 

From  Chicago  to  Montreal   1,261 

Montreal  to  Liverpool,  via  River  and  Gnlf  of  Saint  Lawrence  2,  450 


From  Chicago  to  Liverpool   3, 716 

Less  distance  than  via  New  York   1, 060 

THE  SOUTHWEST  COUNTRY. 


If  we  glance  for  a  moment  to  tlie  vast  region  lying  west  of  the  Indian 
country,  and  the  States  of  Arkansas,  Missouri,  and  Iowa,  including  the 
States  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  and  the  southern  portion  of  Dakota 
Territory,  we  shall  see  stretching  away  toward  the  mountains  the  same 
unbroken  and  almost  unbounded  expanse  of  wheat-land.  It  has  been 
demonstrated  beyond  a  doubt  that  "the  great  American  desert,'1  which 
a  few  years  a £0  used  to  frighten  timid  people  almost  out  of  their  senses, 
is  a  myth.  Like  the  deceptive  and  fleeting  mirage  of  the  plains,  it  melts 
away  and  disappears  before  the  advancing  tide  of  emigration  which  is 
flowing  over  the  plains  and  over  the  mountains  toward  the  shores  of 
the  Pacific  Ocean.  This  portion  of  the  western  country  is  known  among 
western  men  as  the  "treeless  region."  It  is  a  vast  area,  extending  from 
the  Bio  Grande,  on  the  south,  to  Big  Slave  Lake,  on  the  Xorth,  a  dis- 
tance of  nearly  three  thousand  miles,  and  averaging  about  one  thou- 
sand miles  in  width.  Within  the  limits  of  the  United  States  it  rises 
with  a  nearly  uniform  grade  of  about  feet  to  the  mile,  from  about 
the  meridian  of  Omaha  to  the  foot-hills  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  There 
are  many  groves  and  skirts  of  timber  along  the  streams  and  other  favor- 
able localities,  with  a  few  large  bodies,  especially  along  the  Arkansas 
and  Red  Rivers;  otherwise  it  is  most  emphatically  a  treeless  plain.  Its 
fertility,  however,  is  unsurpassed,  in  consequence  of  the  presence  in 
great  abundance  of  the  mineral  salts  in  the  soil  as  above  described.  In 
consequence  of  this  absence  of  timber,  these  vast  plains  will  not  and 
cannot  be  settled  for  many  years  to  come,  unless  measures  be  adopted 
to  insure  the  cultivation  thereon  of  timber.  This  can  readily  and  effi- 
ciently be  done  in  connection  with  the  homestead  laws  of  Congress.  A 
law  that  should  provide  that  every  one  who  shall  cultivate  five  acres  of 
timber  of  one  year's  growth,  on  each  treeless  quarter-section,  shall  be  en- 
titled to  enter  the  same  as  a  homestead,  would  at  once  and  most  effectually 
accomplish  the  object.  The  law  should  be  very  particular  and  strict. 
Let  it  provide  that  the  tract  shall  be  located  on  the  west  side  of  the 
quater-section  and  extend,  if  possible,  from  the  north  to  the  south 
boundary.  This  will  give  a  strip  128  feet  wide  and  half  a  mile  long.  If 
sown  with  the  seed  of  the  silver-leaf  maple  and  carefully  cultivated,  it 
will  produce  a  vigorous  growth  of  plants  of  from  one  to  five  feet  in 
height  the  first  year,  with  an  expense  of  from  seventy-five  to  one  hun- 
dred dollars,  includin  g  the  original  breaking  of  the  sod.  The  seed  should 
be  sown  in  drills  about  six  feet  apart.  On  suitable  ground  it  may  be 
sown  with  the  first  breaking  of  the  prairie-sod.  But  the  best  and  surest 
plan  is  to  sow  the  seed  at  the  second  plowing.  The  silver-leaf  maple 
produces  a  great  abuudauce  of  seed,  which  ripens  and  falls  off  by  the 
1st  of  June,  and  may  be  gathered  in  great  abundance  in  any  of  the 
western  towns  and  cities.  If  well  taken  care  of  and  cultivated,  this 
five  acres  of  timber  will  in  a  few  years  (five  or  six)  produce  all  the  fenc- 
ing (except  fence-posts)  and  fuel  needed  on  the  whole  quarter-section, 
besides  making  a  most  effectual  screen  and  protection  against  the  ter- 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


23 


rinc  winds  and  gales  which  often  prevail  on  those  plains.  By  this  means 
also  the  annual  prairie  fires,  which  sweep  over  those  plains,  burning  up 
every  green  as  well  a*  every  dry  thing,  can  be  kept  out  and  thereby  the 
native  timber  allowed  to  grow,  which  it  will  do  in  great  abundance  and 
with  great  vigor  in  all  parts  of  the  country  not  devoted  to  cultivation, 
as  soon  as  protected  against  those  devastating  fires.  With,  and  even 
without,  those  contemplated  improvements  it  becomes  a  problem  of 
vast  importance  how  those  vast  plains,  which  in  time  will  be  dotted 
all  over  their  broad  expanse  with  fertile  and  productive  wheat-fields, 
are  to  be  supplied  with  adequate  and  cheap  means  and  facilities  of  get- 
ting their  crops  to  an  eastern  and  European  market.  In  the  language 
of  the  Spanish  proverb  we  would  say,  Quien  sabeP  u  Who  knows?'' 
That  problem,  however,  will  be  in  a  very  great  measure  solved  by  the 
opening  up  of  this  water- route  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  because  by  cheap- 
ening transportation  along  the  center  and  eastern  portion,  will  cheapen 
it  throughout  the  whole  route. 

THIS  PROPOSITION  DISPUTED. 

This  proposition  is  often  disputed,  even  by  experienced  shippers  and 
othercommercial  men.  One  or  two  illustrations,  however,  will  establish 
it  beyond  all  doubt  or  controversy.  Suppose  corn  to  be  worth  SO  cents 
per  bushel  in  the  New  York  market,  which  has  been  about  the  average 
price  for  the  last  five  years.  It  costs  the  farmer  east  of  the  lakes  from 
5  to  10  cents  per  bushel  to  get  his  crop  to  market,  (say  10  cents,)  conse- ' 
queutly  he  gets  70  cents  per  bushel  for  his  corn.  But  it  costs  the  farmer 
in  the  Mississippi  Valley  65  cents  per  bushel  (about  the  average  price 
op  to  the  present  time)  to  get  his  crop  to  the  same  market;  hence  he 
gets  only  15  cents  per  bushel  for  his  crop.  Hence  also  it  will  be  observed 
that  com  is  not  a  very  profitable  crop  in  that  region.  The  costs  of 
transportation  have  eaten  it  nearly  all  up.  This  at  once  explains  the 
reason  why  so  much  corn  is  burned  every  year  for  fuel  in  the  West. 
But  the  same  is  true  of  every  other  crop.  The  railroads  and  the  trans- 
portation companies  have  consumed  about  eight-tenths  and  often  nine- 
teuthsof  the  whole  earnings  of  the  whole  agricultural  population  in  the 
great  food-producing  States  of  the  West.  But  in  the  valley  of  the  Missouri 
it  costs  at  least  10  cents  per  bushel  more ;  hence,  when  he  reaches  the 
New  York  market,  after  paying  transportation  and  other  charges,  he 
gets  the  magnificent  sum  of  Jive  cents  per  bushel  for  his  crop;  about  one- 
fourth  enough  to  pay  him  decent  and  living  wages  for  hauling  his  corn 
ten  miles  to  the  nearest  depot.  Now  that  is  exactly  the  state  of  things 
existing  at  the  present  hour  in  all  that  vast  and  fertile  region  of  country 
lying  west  of  a  north  and  south  line  down  through  the  center  of  Iowa. 
In  all  that  vast  region,  the  corn-crop,  in  excess  of  the  home  demand, 
which  will  not  amount  to  much,  if  any,  more  than  30  per  cent,  of  the 
whole  crop,  is  practically  worthless — indeed  is  a  positive  expense  to 
the  farmer.  "But  why  not  raise  other  crops  not  so  bulky,  but  more 
valuable?*'  exclaims  the  enemy  of  this  water-ronte  and  cheap  transpor- 
tation generally.  Sure  enough,  why  not  ?  Simply  and  only  because 
there  are  no  such  other  crops  to  raise.  They  are  all  bulky  and  heavy,  and 
are  all  eaten  up  by  the  excessive  and  ruinous  charges  of  transportation. 
Xow,  suppose  we  can,  by  opening  up  this  water-route,  reduce  the  cost 
of  transit  from  the  lakes  east  to  the  Atlantic  sea-board  25  cents  per 
bushel,  then  the  Mississippi  Valley  farmer  will  get  10  cents  and  the  Mis- 
souri farmer  30  cents  per  bushel  for  their  respective  crops.  This  is  a 
fair  and  conclusive  illustration  of  the  foregoing  proposition,  to  wit,  that 


24 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


by  reducing  the  cost  of  transit  on  auy  part  of  the  route,  it  equally 
benents  all  parrs  thereof.  At  those  prices,  or  rather  at  those  reduced 
rates  of  charges,  raising  corn  in  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  Valleys 
will  become  remunerative,  not  till  then. 

THE  IOWA  COBX-CBOPS  OF  1871  AND  1872. 

The  history  of  the  Iowa  corn-crop  of  1S71-72  most  forcibly  and  con- 
clusively illustrates  this  proposition  on  a  large  scale.  In  1871  that  State 
raised  about  150,000,000  bushels;  in  1872  at  least  10  per  cent,  more,  or 
165.0un.0oii  bushels  of  com.  The  average  price  of  those  crops  will  not 
exceed  10  cents  per  bushel  to  the  farmer,  while  the  average  price  in  the 
ZSew  York  market  exceeds  SO  cents  per  bushel.  The  entire  difference, 
or  70  cents  per  bushel,  has  been  swallowed  up  in  the  cost  of  transporta- 
tion. The  same  is  true  of  all  other  products  of  the  western  farmer.  It 
takes  three  of  his  fat  hogs  and  three  bushels  of  his  wheat  to  get  the 
fourth  to  market:  and  so  of  everything  else  which  he  raises.  Surely 
thar  country  cannot  be  permanently  prosperous  where  such  a  state  of 
things  exists. 

N~ot  the  slightest  improvement  or  mitigation  of  these  enormous  exac- 
tions can  be  expected  or  will  be  afforded  with  the  present  systems  of 
transportation.  The  only  remedy  is  another  and  a  rical  system.  On  the 
contrary,  in  view  of  the  immense  crop  of  1872,  which  is  now  being 
moved  to  the  eastern  markets,  the  railroads  have  advanced  their  rates 
about  30  per  cent.  In  view  of  this  fact  one  of  the  most  prominent 
western  newspapers,  the  Dubuque  Iowa*  Times,  in  its  issue  of  Novem- 
ber L'7.  1S72.  makes  the  following  statement: 

Eighteen  of  the  principal  railroad-lines  centering  in  New  York  report  an  increase  in 
their  October  earnings  over  those  of  the  same  month  last  year  of  about  20  per  cent. 
This  is  not  an  increase  in  the  amount  of  business  done  so  much  as  it  is  an  increase  of 
freights.  It  is  no  wonder,  then,  that  the  farmers  of  the  West  find  their  produce  con- 
sumed in  the  cost  of  getting  it  to  market.    There  must  be  *ome  icay  to  *toj)  this  extortion. 

Perhaps  the  editor  in  penning  that  last  sentence  forgot,  or  did  not 
know,  that  that  extortion  was  only  the  usual  *•  annual  squeeze"  to  which 
the  farmers  of  the  West  are  periodically  (about  that  season)  subjected. 

The  Inter-Ocean,  of  Chicago,  on  the  21th  of  October,  1872.  says: 

Just  now  the  West  is  taken  by  the  railroads  at  a  peculiarly  painful  disadvantage. 
The  farmers  have  raised  an  unusually  large  crop  of  corn.  Providence,  as  if  to  make 
up  for  the  immense  losses  entailed  by  iast  fall's  fires,  in  both  city  and  country,  has  been 
most  bountiful.  But  certain  men  stand  in  the  way  of  the  equal  distribution  of  this 
beneficence  and  proclaim  that  the  large  majority  of  its  benefits  must  accrue  to  them. 
At  the  very  time  that  prices  in  the  West  have  fallen  below  a  profitable  shipping-point 
the  railway  magnates  call  a  meeting  and  proceed  to  put  up  rates  of  freight  both  ways, 
and  thus  add  to  the  distress  of  the  entire  industrial  community,  agricultural,  manufac- 
turing, and  commercial. 

THE  EE  IE  CJlNAL  A>"D  THE  BAILBOADS. 

In  support  of  the  last  foregoing  proposition  let  us  for  a  few  moments 
examine  the  present  means  and  facilities  of  transportation  between  the 
grain-fields  of  the  West  and  the  eastern  and  European  markets.  Xo 
serious  obstacles  intervene  along  the  lake-route  until  we  reach  the  toot 
of  Lake  Erie:  indeed,  the  main  trouble  exists  and  the  main  expen>es  are 
incurred  between  rhe  foot  of  that  lake  and  the  Atlantic  sea-board.  These 
facts  directly  lead  us  to  examine  the  capacity  and  condition  of  the  Erie 
Canal  and  the  railroads  r  unning  from  the  foot  of  that  lake  to  the  At- 
lantic Ocean.  Can  they  be  so  enlarged  and  their  carrying  capacity  so 
improved  and  increased  as  to  meet  the  necessities  and  demands  of  the 


N I A  ( 3  ABA  SHIP-  C  A  X  A  L . 


25 


West  for  greater  facilities  and  cheaper  rates  for  transportation  ?  We 
assume  that  they  cannot.  One  of  the  main  reasons  is,  because  they  can- 
not supersede  the  necessity  for  transshipment  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Erie. 

THE  ERIE  CANAL.  ■ 

It  is  proposed  to  eularge  the  Erie  Canal  so  as  to  run  boats  thereon  of 
1,000  tons  capacity.  But  that  will  not  and  cannot  supersede  the  neces- 
sity for  transshipment,  as  we  shall  hereafter  demonstrate.  The  mere 
proposition  of  enlargement,  however,  involves  the  monstrous  absurdity  of 
digging  out  of  the  dry  and  hard  earth  and  rocks,  for  a  distance  of  more 
than  330  miles,  a  navigable  channel  of  that  capacity,  right  alongside  of  a 
system  of  navigable  water  of  practically  unlimited  capacity,  at  a  cost 
of  three  or  four  times  the  amount  which  will  be  necessary  to  complete 
this  other  route  clear  through  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  But  even  were 
this  enlargement  practicable  it  cannot  meet  the  demands  and  necessities 
of  the  country,  and  more  especially  of  the  West. 

THE  ENTERPRISE  NOT  PRACTICABLE. 

But  it  is  not  practicable.  With  the  proposed  enlargement  no  amount 
of  water  can  be  secured  to  supply  the  »•  Syracuse  level."  The  engineer- 
ing skill  of  the  canal  board  of  the  State  of  Xew  York  has  been  exhausted 
to  meet  the  present  demands  of  that  level:  and  still  in  the  dry  seasons 
of  the  year,  as  July,  August,  September,  and  October,  less  than  four  feet 
of  water  can  be  secured  or  relied  upon  for  that  purpose,  and  then  for 
only  a  portion  of  the  time.  At  the  very  season  of  the  year  when  the  de- 
mands for  transportation  are  greatest  and  most  imperative  the  facilities 
furnished  by  the  canal  are  the  least. 

Mr.  Hutchinson,  a  civil  engineer,  connected  and  familiar  with  the  canal 
system  of  the  State  of  New  York,  in  a  written  statement  to  the  House 
of  Eepresentatives,  in  a  discussion  on  the  naval  defenses  of  the  great 
lakes,  January  8,  1863,  says  : 

That  on  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  of  the  Erie  Canal,  extending  from  near  wS^neca 
River  (Montezuma)  to  the  feeder  east  of  Little  Falls,  there  is  not  now  a  full  supply  of 
water  during  the  business  season,  and  that,  too,  notwithstanding  that  section  had  the 
advantage  of  eleven  millions  and  sixty-four  thousand  acres  of  reservoirs,  of  nearly  three 
thousa)id  million  cubic  feet,  and  one-half  the  Black  River  Canal  and  Erie  Canal  feeders' 
reservoirs,  and  also  various  intersecting  streams:  and  notwithstanding  all  these  advan- 
tages any  addition  to  the  dimensions  of  the  present  locks,  alone,  Mould  recpiire  large  additional 
supplies.  To  enlarge  the  prism  of  the  canal  would  also  be  necessary,  and  to  maintain  an  ade- 
quate supj)ly  of  water,  even  in  the  levels,  would  seem  impracticable,  to  secure  the  passage  of  ves- 
sels with  any  increased  draught. 

The  section  of  the  canal  thus  described  includes  that  portion  known 
as  "the  Long  or  Syracuse  level."  It  is  therefore  a  problem  of  very  con- 
siderable importance  u where  the  supply  of  water  is  to  come  from  when 
the  demand,  arising  from  the  proposed  enlargement,  will  be  at  least  ten 
times  greater  than  now."  The  proposition  is  a  single  absurdity. 

LAKE  ERIE  TO  SUPPLY  THE  REQUISITE  AMOUNT. 

The  practical  impossibility  of  increasing  that  supply  by  enlarging  the 
reservoirs  has  been  so  thoroughly  demonstrated  that  another  proposi- 
tion has  frequently  been  broached,  to  wit.  to  supply  the  deficiencies  of 
water  for  that  level  with  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie,  as  also  on  the  entire 
canal  to  tide-water,  if  need  be — certainly  to  a  point  on  the  Mohawk 
Eiver  where  a  full  supply  can  be  secured  from  thence.    That  would  be 


26 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


almost  a  physical  impossibility;  at  least  to  do  so  would  require  an  exca- 
vation below  the  present  level  of  the  canal,  upon  an  average,  of  at  least 
40  feet  from  Fulmers  Creek  aqueduct  (about  twenty  miles  east  of  Utica) 
to  Port  Byron,  a  distance  of  more  than  one  hundred  miles,  which  would 
include  the  entire  distance  of  "the  Syracuse  level."  This  excavation 
alone  (of  more  than  100,000,000  cubic  yards,  more  than  half  of  which  is 
solid  stratified  rock)  would  cost  more  than  three  times  the  amount  re- 
quired on  the  whole  of  the  other  route.  The  impossibility  of  carrying 
out  such  an  undertaking  will  be  more  apparent  by  consulting  a  profile 
map  of  the  Erie  and  other  canals  of  the  State  of  New  York  published 
in  1863.    Later  maps  are  still  more  accurate  and  explicit. 

AN  AQUEDUCT  TO  OVERCOME  THE  DEPRESSION  BETWEEN  LODI  AND 

NEWARK. 

Another  proposition  is  to  construct  an  aqueduct  from  Lodi  to  Newark 
to  overcome  the  depression  between  those  two  points,  and  thus  to  bring 
the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  up  on  to  the  Syracuse  level  to  supply  the  de- 
ficiency of  water  now  existing  there.  This  would  necessitate  the  con- 
struction of  an  aqueduct  between  those  two  points  (a  distance  of  about 
sixty  miles)  upon  an  average  about  20  feet  high,  which  would  be  a  some- 
what formidable  undertaking,  especially  with  a  capacity  for  vessels  of 
one  thousand  tons.  We  leave  to  the  engineering  skill  and  acumen  of 
the  friends  of  this  enterprise  (of  Erie  Canal  enlargement)  to  supply  that 
level  with  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie,  or  in  any  other  practicable  way  they 
may  or  can  devise.  We  imagine  it  will  be  some  time  before  vessels  of 
one  thousand  tons  burden  will  float  over  the  Syarcuse  level. 

UTMOST  CAPACITY  OF  THE  LAKES  NEEDED  IN  CONTINUOUS  NAVIGA- 
TION TO  THE  ATLANTIC  OCEAN. 

But  suppose  all  these  difficulties,  which  now  appear  so  formidable,  can 
be  overcome  and  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  can  be  made  to  supply  the 
"Syracuse  level,"  or  the  requisite  supply  can  be  secured  in  some  other 
way,  still  the  utmost  capacity  of  the  canal,  when  thus  enlarged,  would 
allow  of  the  passage  of  vessels  of  only  1,000  tons  burden — about  one, 
half  the  present  tonnage  of  many  vessels  now  navigatiug  the  lakes. 
This  would  still  necessitate  transshipment  at  Buffalo,  which  is  one 
of  the  most  grievous  and  oppressive  burdens  upon  western  agricul- 
ture and  commerce  at  present  existing,  and  from  which  the  people  of 
that  section  have  for  years  been  seeking  to  escape.  The  conviction  has 
become  universal,  indeed  unauimous,  throughout  all  the  agricultural 
States  of  the  West,  that  they  can  never  secure  cheap  transportation  so  long 
as  that  necessity  (to  wit,  transshipment  at  Buffalo)  exists. 

LAKE  VESSELS  WOULD  NOT  NAVIGATE  THE  CANAL. 

Transshipment  would  be  inevitable,  indeed  imperative,  in  any  event; 
because  lake  vessels  could  not  successfully  and  profitably  navigate  the 
canal.  This  is  not  mere  theory.  There  is  a  practical  illustration  of  that 
assumption  now  existing  on  a  large  scale. 

THE  CALEDONIA  CANAL. 

The  largest  ship-canal  now  known  in  Europe  is  the  Caledonia  Canal,  connecting  the 
German  and  Atlantic  Oceans,  between  the  Murry,  Frith,  and  Cantyre,  opening,  by 
means  of  lakes  and  narrow  arms  of  the  sea,  an  interior  navigation  of  two  hundred  and 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


27 


fifty  miles,  and  large  enough  to  float  a  thirty-two  gun  frigate,  (ahout  1,500  tons  carry- 
ing-capacity and  14  feet  draught,)  and  yet  it  is  an  entire  failure.  Though  it  saves  a 
large  distance  of  difficult  and  dangerous  navigation  around  the  north  of  Scotland  and 
the  Orkneys,  (about  seven  hundred  miles,)  it  is  scarcely  used  at  all;  indeed  it  does  not 
and  never  has  paid  expenses  of  operating  it,  much  less  the  interest  (not  even  one  mill) 
on  the  cost  of  construction,  and  is  proposed  to  be  abandoned.  (Since  this  account  was 
written  it  has  been  entirely  abandoned.)  The  open  navigation  of  the  sea,  though  dan- 
gerous and  of  much  greater  distance,  is  found  to  be  cheaper  and  far  more  convenient. 
The  fact  may  be  demonstrated  that  the  movement  of  a  large  vessel,  especially  a  steamer, 
through  a  long  ship-canal  (in  this  case  entirely  artificial  and  narrow)  would  be  slow. 
It  would  involve  the  monstrous  absurdity  of  carrying  a  heavy  weight  of  machinery  a 
distance  of  more  than  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  which  would  be  entirely  useless 
on  the  voyage,  displacing,  by  just  so  many  tons,  more  valuable  and  paying  freight, 
with  a  loss  of  the  advantage  of  the  machinery  for  the  time.  (Detroit  commercial 
convention,  1865,  page  161.) 

Another  reason  obviously  is,  that  as  the  canal  is  not  of  sufficient 
capacity  to  admit  of  the  larger  ocean  steamers  and  vessels,  it  therefore 
is  far  cheaper  to  incur  the  risks  of  ocean-navigation  around  the  difficult 
and  dangerous  coast  of  Scotland  and  the  Orkneys  than  to  transship  on 
to  smaller  vessels  that  can  go  through  the  canal.  Indeed,  that  is  the 
main  argument  used  in  the  English  journals  for  the  abandonment  of 
the  canal.  The  same  principles  are  involved,  and  the  same  reasons 
would  prevail,  in  regard  to  the  Erie  Canal,  but  with  far  greater  force, 
because  the  channel  is  artificial  and  narrow  the  entire  distance.  Hence, 
suppose  that  the  canal  were  enlarged  to  1,000  tons  capacity,  as  is  pro- 
posed, still,  even  then,  smaller  boats,  as  200  or  250  tons,  could  be  used 
more  economically  than  one  large  vessel  of  equal  burden.  There  are 
certain  and  well-defined  principles  which  are  thoroughly  understood  by 
practical  engineers,  and  which  are  involved  in  this  inquiry.  It  would 
also  require,  probably,  four  times  the  amount  of  capital  to  construct  one 
staunch  lake-vessel  of  this  size  than  an  equal  tonnage  of  smaller  vessels 
suitable  for  canal-navigation,  and  carrying  an  equal  amount  of  freight. 
Hence,  although  vessels  navigating  the  lakes  might  also  navigate  the 
canal,  it  would  be  found  far  cheaper  and  more  economical  to  transship  at 
Buffalo  on  to  lighter  and  smaller  vessels  for  the  canal.  Experience 
even  now  has  induced  the  adoption  of  this  plan.  The  capacity  of  the 
Erie  Canal  is  for  vessels  of  about  225  tons;  but  probably  not  one- tenth 
of  the  boats  on  that  canal  are  of  that  tonnage;  and  probably  not  more 
than  one-fourth  reach  150  tons,  and  by  far  the  largest  proportion  do  not 
much,  if  any,  exceed  125  tons.  Experience  has  demonstrated  that  the 
larger  boats  are  not  profitable  and  cannot  be  used  to  advantage,  espe- 
cially with  the  present  propelling-power,  to  wit,  horses. 

BREAKAGES   IX    THE    CANAL   AX    INSURMOUNTABLE    OBJECTION  TO 

ENLARGEMENT. 

If  all  other  objections  and  difficulties  could  be  overcome,  the  repeated 
and  disastrous  breakages  which  are  constantly  occurring  would  render 
this  route  utterly  unsuited,  as  well  as  inadequate,  to  the  wants  and 
necessities  of  the  West.  Hon.  James  F.  Joy,  of  Detroit,  stated,  in  that 
convention  at  Detroit,  in  1865,  as  follows : 

I  think  I  hazard  nothing  in  saying  that  the  break  in  the  Erie  Canal  by  the  floods 
last  spring,  only  for  a  period  of  "three  weeks,  occasioned  a  greater  loss  by  far  to  the 
holders  of  western  produce,  seeking  the  market,  than  this  proposed  canal  (the  Niagara 
Falls  Canal)  would  cost,  even  though  it  should  reach  $-.25,000,000.  (Report  of  the  con- 
vention, page  87.) 

Since  then  there  have  been  three  breaks  equally  disastrous  and  con- 
tinuing much  longer.  The  break  near  Rochester,  in  the  spring  of  1871, 
lasted  about  six  weeks,  and  carried  wide-spread  ruin  and  disaster  among 


28 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


the  grain-dealers  and  farmers  in  all  the  Western  States.  Should  the 
canal  be  enlarged  to  the  proposed  dimensions,  the  conclusion  is  inevi- 
table that  breaks  would  be  quite  as  frequent  and  far  more  disastrous 
than  now,  because  there  would  probably  be  nearly  ten  times  the  volume 
of  water. 

THE  HOT  WATERS  OF  THE  CANAL.— SOUR  GRAIN  CARRIED  IN  BULK. 

But  over  and  above  all  these  objections,  there  is  one  which  can  never 
be  overcome — that  is  the  temperature  of  the  water  during,  the  summer 
months  ;  indeed,  during*  nearly  all  the  season  of  navigation.  During 
that  period,  these  waters  are  denominated,  by  boatmen  and  others  ac- 
quainted with  them,  as  "  hot,"  and  they  are  most  emphatically  so.  Vast 
amount  of  damage  is  done  every  year  to  grain  carried  in  bulk,  espe- 
cially wheat  and  corn,  and  more  especially  the  latter,  if  they  have  be- 
come at  all  damp  in  the  passage  down  the  lakes,  or  were  in  a  somewhat 
unmatured  state  when  shipped,  as  is  often  the  case.  This  objection  to 
the  Erie  Canal  can  never  be  overcome.  One  western  shipper  once 
described  this  risk  to  a  member  of  this  committee  as  "  almost  equal  to 
a  passage  through  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  around  the  Florida  Keys  in 
the  hottest  season  of  the  year."  There  is  an  actual  difference  in  prices 
between  flour,  wheat,  and  corn  going  by  canal  of  about  5  per  cent.,  and 
oftentimes  much  more,  being  that  much  less  than  the  prices  of  the 
same  articles  carried  by  rail  in  all  the  eastern  and  European  markets. 
This  difficulty  can  never  be  removed  by  any  enlargement  of  the  prism 
of  the  canal,  especially  on  that  part  of  it  where  the  cold  waters  of  Lake 
Erie  cannot  be  used,  which  will  include  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  whole 
length  of  the  canal.  This  risk  and  depreciation  cannot  be  encountered 
by  western  agriculture  in  its  present  and  prospective  magnitude,  if 
there  be  any  possibility  of  avoiding  it.  That  depreciation  is  a  dead  loss 
to  the  West  of  more  than  $2,000,000  per  annum. 

THE  EARLY  FREEZING  OF  THE  CANAL. 

The  capacity  of  the  canal  is  so  entirely  inadequate  to  the  demand, 
that  vast  amounts  of  western  produce  are  annually  pushed  forward  at 
so  late  a  period  that  immense  damage  and  loss  are  incurred  by  western 
shippers,  especially  if  there  be  a  premature  closing  of  the  canal.  Sir 
Morton  Peto,  in  his  work  on  America,  published  ten  or  twelve  years  ago, 
states,  that,  "in  one  instance  coming  within  his  own  knowledge,  40,000 
barrels  of  flour  were  detained  several  months  in  consequence  of  this 
delay,  and  the  owner  ruined  thereby."  He  further  says,  "A  vast  mass 
of  produce  is  yearly  destroyed  from  the  inability  of  the  carriers  to  for- 
ward it.  The  owners  are  ruined,  and  parties  in  the  Eastern  States,  who 
advance  money  on  this  produce,  charge  excessive  rates  to  cover  the 
risks  of  delay.  These  delays,  risks,  and  losses  will  increase  with  the  in- 
crease of  western  agriculture;  whereas  if  continuous  navigation,  by' 
way  of  the  lakes,  were  opened,  the  capacity  of  that  route  would  be  so 
great — indeed  unlimited — that  ten  times  the  present  products  of  the  West- 
ern States  could  be  moved  to  market  long  before  the  close  of  navigation." 
It  would  be  difficult  to  give  a  more  correct  and  faithful  description  of 
this  whole  question  than  is  done  by  the  author  of  that  book  in  this 
short  sentence.  Besides,  lake  navigation  is  not  subject  to  this  damage 
by  heating,  because  the  waters  of  the  lakes  are  always  cool,  and  grain 
carried  in  bulk  never  becomes  heated  on  the  passage,  although  some- 
times it  incurs  dampness.    This,  however,  does  not  prove  to  be  a  serious 


NIAGAltA  SHIP-CANAL. 


29 


objection  to  lake-navigation,  because  of  the  rapidity  with  which  lake- 
vessels,  especially  steamers,  move  from  the  port  of  shipment  to  that  of 
discharge;  the  average  speed  being  at  the  rate  of  eight  miles  per 
honr,  or  two  hundred  miles  in  twenty-four  hours,  equal  to  the  average 
speed  of  freight  trains. 

We  think  we  have  demonstrated  in  another  place,  by  proof  which 
cannot  be  impeached,  that  navigation  by  Lake  Ontario  and  the  Saint 
Lawrence  would  be  more  than  a  month  longer  than  by  the  Erie  Canal, 
the  average  time  down  that  river  being  270  days ;  by  the  Erie  Canal  230. 

THE  GENEROSITY  OF  THE  AVE  ST  APPEALED  TO  TO  DESIST  FROM 
THIS  ENTERPRISE  BECAUSE  NEW  YORK  HAS  EXPENDED  LARGE 
SUMS  IN  THE  CONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  ERIE  AND  OTHER  CANALS  OF 
THAT  STATE. 

When,  however,  all  other  arguments  fail  to  convince  the  people  of 
the  West  that  the  Erie  Canal  is  all-sufficient  for  their  demands  and 
necessities,  their  generosity  is  appealed  to  because  the  State  of  New 
York  has  expended  large  sums  of  money  in  the  construction  of  that  and 
other  canals.  This  argument  found  expression  in  the  remonstrance  of  the 
Buffalo  Board  of  Trade  sent  to  the  Detroit  commercial  convention  held 
on  the  13th  of  December,  1871.  (See  page  34  of  its  proceedings.)  This 
remonstrance  is  entitled  to  great  consideration  as  emanating  from  a 
body  of  business  and  commercial  men  of  great  influence  and  respecta- 
bility, including  nearly  all  of  her  wealthy  and  principal  business  men. 
That  remonstrance  may  be  condensed  under  the  following  heads: 

First.  The  West  ought  not  further  to  prosecute  this  enterprise  (Niag- 
ara Falls  Ship-Canal)  because  the  State  of  New  York  has,  with  great 
magnanimity  and  at  great  expense  to  her  treasury,  opened  up  a  large 
and  adequate  means  of  transportation  of  western  produce  to  eastern, 
and  European  markets,  to  wit,  the  Erie  Canal.  This  plea  is  always  put 
forth  whenever  this  question  of  the  Niagara  Falls  Ship-Canal  is  agitated 
or  efforts  made  to  secure  its  construction. 

In  examining  this  assumption  we  have  not  one  word  to  say  in  dispar- 
agement of  that  water  route.  We  readily  concede  all  the  good  it  has 
done  in  the  past,  in  the  development  of  the  country  west  of  the  lakes. 
But  when  it  is  assumed  that  this  work  was  begun  and  prosecuted  to 
final  completion  through  the  superior  patriotism  and  magnanimity  of 
the  people  of  the  State  of  New  York,  we  beg  leave  to  suggest  our  dissent. 
The  record  is  somewhat,  indeed  entirely,  different.  The  action  of  the 
people  of  that  State  in  relation  to  the  construction  of  the  Erie  Canal 
can  be  accounted  for  upon  entirely  different  principles,  which  is  the  true 
interpretation,  and  which  at  the  same  time  does  not  in  the  slightest 
degree  impugn  the  magnanimous  motives  of  the  noble  and  patriotic 
citizens  of  that  State.  In  the  report  of  the  engineers  and  surveyors  on 
the  New  York  canals  for  the  year  1868,  pages  12  and  13,  it  appears  that 
the  tolls  and  other  receipts  of  the  Erie  and  Chainplain  Canals  up  to  30th 
of  September,  1861,  paid  the  cost  of  their  construction,  enlargement, 
extension,  and  improvement,  and  interest  thereon  at  the  rate  of  about 
7  per  cent,  per  annum,  and  the  cost  of  repairs,  maintenance,  and  collec- 
tions thereon  to  that  date,  and  over  and  above  ali  these  charges  left  a 
surplus  of  net  profits  to  the  State  of  $38,455,560.01.  That  is  a  pretty 
good  showing  as  a  mere  business  transaction,  to  say  nothing  about 
patriotism,  magnanimity,  and  all  that.  That  same  report  shows  that 
twenty-nine-thirtieths  of  that  enormous  amount  (more  than  375,000,000) 
came  from  tolls  levied  upon  commerce  coming  from  or  going  to  the 


30 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


country  lying  west  of  Lake  Erie.  Iu  180$  tlie  New  York  canals  trans- 
ported 6,442,225  tons  of  freight,  (report  of  auditor  of  the  canal  depart- 
ment, page  67.)  about  uineteen-tweutieths  of  which  was  carried  by  the 
Erie  Canal.  Only  201,654  tons  (or  less  than  one-thirtieth  of  which)  was 
the  growth  or  product  of  the  State  of  New  York.  The  report  for  1871 
(page  67)  shows  that  between  the  years  1835  and  1871,  both  inclusive, 
those  canals  earned  124.432.939  tons  of  freight,  only  4.314,431  tons  of 
which  was  the  growth  or  product  of  that  State. 

NET  EARNINGS  SINCE  SEPTEMBER  30,  1861. 

The  financial  report  of  the  auditor  of  the  canal  department  for  the 
year  1871  (page  68)  shows  that  the  net  earnings  of  those  canals  from 
30th  September,  1861,  up  to  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year  September  30, 
1^71.  amounted  to  the  sum  of  £32,970,269.29.  That  same  report  shows 
that  the  surplus  revenues  of  the  canals  of  the  State,  from  1836  to  1871 
inclusive,  amounted  to  the  sain  of  $72,424,797.21.  The  whole  of  this 
amount  is  to  be  credited  to  the  Erie  and  Champlain  Canals,  because  the 
balance  of  the  canal  system  of  the  State,  amounting  to  more  than  five 
hundred  miles,  has  cost,  iu  principal,  interest,  and  expenses,  over  and 
above  the  income  derived  therefrom,  6=43,733,378.19,  as  will  be  seen  by 
the  annexed  table  prepared  from  the  auditor's  report  for  1871 : 

Statement  of  receipts  and  expenditures  on  account  of  the  several  canals  of  the  State  of  N etc 
York,  other  than  the  Erie  and  Champlain  Canals,  taken  from  the  report  of  the  auditor  of  the 
canal  department,  for  the  year  ending  September  30, 1871, from  panels  to  105.  inclusive;  the 
statement  of  receipts  only  include  tolls,  sale  of  lands,  and  water-rents. 


Canals. 

Vears.       j  Expenditures. 

Receipt  of  tolls, 
<fcc. 

Deficiencies. 

Black  River  

Genesee  Valley  

1626  to  1*71 
1835  to  1871 
18  JO  to  1871 
1831  to  1871 
1833  to  1871 
1K37  to  1-71 
1837  to  1871 
1841  bo  1*71 
1853  to  1871 
183S  to  1871 

$8.  750,  224  13 

3.  '244.  070  16 

4,  36-2. 125  83 
1.005,241  99 
9,697,073  21 
7.423,346  13 

16.920.121  51 
64  i,  999  31 
39.  64  V  93 
583.  376  46 

$3,  517,  622  23 
954,  317  32 
504,  207  30 

44. 446  76 
719,  13t  75 
174, 117  22 
739.  664  4-2 

65, 180  51 
1.261  46 
21*,  671  46 

6").  232,  601  79 
•2.  269,  752  84 
3,  657,  916  58 
960,  973  23 
8,  977,  937  46 
7.  249,  230  91 
16.160,237  09 
575,  818  80 
36,360  45 
370,  706  96 

52,  <  $,294 

B,  932  646  47 

43,  733,  376  IS 

Statement  of  receipts  and  expenditures  on  account  of  the  above-named  canals,  for  the  years 
lS69and  1870,  taken  from  the  tamt  report  and  paaes. 

Canals. 

Tears. 

Expenditures. 

Receipt  of  tolls,]  Deficiencies. 

1 

Cayuga  and  Seneea  

1869  to  1870 
1869  to  1870 
1869  to  1870 
1869  to  1870 
1869  to  1870 
1869  to  1870 
1*69  to  1870 
1369  to  1870 
1869  to  1870 
1869  to  1870 

6563,  653  51 
168,366  61 
2-J4.  016  02 

59,731  45 
843.767  83 
354,  956  20 
622.  506  HI 
278.662  80 
5.  43-2  70 

5-2,223  12 

$295,241  56 
65,  158  19 
15,499  1  7 
740  55 
42, 196  56 
23.  602  54 
39,  953  10 

I2G8  411  95 
123,210  4-2 
208,  568  85 

58,  996  90 
801,  567  27 
331,  153  66 
562  553  51 
276,  662  60 
5.  432  70 

52  223  1-2 

Crooked  Lake  

Black  River  

Bald  wins  ville  

Oneida  River  improvement  

3.  190.  336  65 

476.  392  67 

2  701.  901  16 

Now,  allowing  New  York  to  furnish  one-thirtieth  of  the  business  to 
her  productive  canals,  (which  will  be  about  her  fair  proportion,)  and  she 


N I A  G  A  R  A   SHIP-  C  A  X  A  L . 


31 


has  contributed  *1>U.393.33  toward  the  payment  of  the  debt  incurred  in 
those  two  years  fur  the  support  of  those  unproductive  canals.  Leaving 
a  balance  to  be  levied  upon  the  commerce  of  the  country  passing  through 
and  beyond  her  limits  of  $2.0i'1,4o7.S.j.  for  the  years  1S69  and  1>70.  which 
is  an  average  of  $1,310,703.92  per  annum,  levied  upon  that  commerce 
passing  through  and  beyond  her  limits,  to  support  her  system  of  unpro- 
ductive canals,  which  are  not  one  particle  of  benefit  to  any  portion 
of  the  country  except  herself.  It  was.  therefore,  with  a  great  deal  of 
significance,  as  well  as  truth,  that  Mr.  Allen  stated,  in  the  Detroit  com- 
mercial convention  of  1865.  "that  New  York,  with  one  arm  on  the  ocean 
and  the  other  on  the  lakes,  commanded  the  highway  of  commerce  be- 
tween the  East  and  West."  and  was  not  to  be  disturbed  with  impunity 
in  the  good  thing  she  was  then,  as  now,  enjoying  in  her  canal  system, 
unproductive  as  well  as  productive. 

It  will  not  be  necessary  to  cite  specific  authorities  to  prove  that  at 
least  eight-tenths  of  this  enormous  sum  of  money  has  been  levied  directly 
upon  the  agricultural  industry  and  commerce  of  the  people  of  this  coun- 
try living  west  of  the  lakes:  and  that  this  system  of  taxation  is  still 
going  on,  not  only  to  pay  oil'  the  balance  of  her  canal  debt,  but  also  to 
maintain  her  system  of  unproductive  canals,  which  are  for  her  own 
exclusive  use  and  benefit.  This  charge  exceeds  one  and  a  quarter  million 
dollars  per  annum,  twenty-nine-thirtieths  of  which  comes  directly  out  of 
the  pockets  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  residing  beyond  the  limits 
of  the  State  of  Xew  York.  So  much  in  reply  to  the  claim  of  ••  gener- 
osity" in  the  construction  of  the  Erie  Canal.  The  course  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  stimulated  and  mainly  incited  by  the  citizens  of  Buffalo 
and  other  promoters  of  the  oppressive  system  of  monopoly,  which  they 
have  succeeded  thus  far  in  maintaining,  as  to  call  out  the  following- 
rebuke  from  one  of  her  most  patriotic,  public-spirited,  and  wealthy  citi- 
zens, one,  too,  whose  private  interests  would  be  far  more  effectually 
promoted  by  the  policy  which  he  condemus  than  by  the  liberal  and 
patriotic  one  which  he  advocates. 

Genii  Smith  to  Horace  Greeley. 
A  PLEA  FOR  THE  SOUTH. 

"  Considering  thyself,  lest  thon  also  be  tempted." 

Peterborough.  March  6,  1865. 
My  Dear  Sir  :  I  have  not  taken  up  my  pen  to  defend  the  South.  The  extent  of  my 
present  plea  for  her  is  simply  to  say,  and  briefly  to  illustrate,  that  there  is  one  point  at 
which  she  is  little  if  any  worse  than  the  North— and  this.  too.  although  it  is  right  here 
that  the  North  judges  her  most  severely.  The  point  to  which  I  refer  is  weakne ss  of 
national  and  patriotic  feeling.  Very  remarkable.  I  admit,  is  this  weakness  in  the 
South.  Else  she  would  not  have  fallen  off  from  the  nation:  else  her  slave-holding  and 
selfishness  would  not  so  easily  have  overcome  her  patriotism.  But  this  weakness  is 
perhaps  no  less  at  the  North.  If  slave-holding  and  consequent  love  of  rule  can  produce 
it  at  the  South,  so  can  greed  of  gain  produce  it  at  the  North,  aud  perhaps  quite  as 
abundantly. 

New  Jersey  imposes  a  transit  duty  on  the  citizens  and  commerce  of  the  other  States  : 
also  on  the  mails:  ay.  aud  even  on  soldiers,  who  are  pressing  forward  to  shed  their 
blood  in  defense  of  their  country.  My  complaint  is  not  chiefly  because  this  transit  duty 
violates  the  exclusive  right  of  Congress  to  regulate  commerce  between  the  Stares,  to 
establish  post-roads,  and  to  raise  armies — the  right  to  raise  which,  of  course,  implies 
the  right  to  move  them.  Immeasurably  more  is  my  complaint  because  this  transit  duty 
violates  those  laws  of  neighborhood  and  fraternity,  of  intercourse  and  fellowship,  which 
bind  together  the  people  of  every  worthy  and  happy  nation.  Iu  effect,  and  to  no  small 
extent.  New  Jersey  has  seceded  from  the  nation.  *  That  she  has  not  seceded  from  it 
directly  and  entirely  is  only  because  she  has  not  been  tempted  to  do  so.  With  no 
affection  for  her  sister  States,  aud  with  no  patriotism  to  make  her  national,  she  would 
not.  unless  obliged  to.  remain  in  the  Uuion  a  siugle  year  after  her  selrish  iuterests  should 
begin  to  clamor  for  her  withdrawal  from  it. 


32 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


The  State  of  New  York  is  proving  herself  to  be  no  less  selfish,  unpatriotic,  and  nnna- 
tioual  than  the  State  of  New  Jersey.  In  two  respects  the  Western  States  are  unfavora- 
bly situated.  1st.  They  are  so  far  from  market  as  to  make  transportation  very  expensive. 
2d.  So  bulky  are  their  staples  that  the  present  highways  are  very  far  from  sufficing  for 
their  transportation.  Hence  their  last  year's  crop  is  still  largely  npon  their  hands.  In 
these  circumstances  their  call  is  lond.  and  increasingly  lond,  for  more  and  cheaper  out- 
lets. For  one  of  these  outlets  they  look  to  the  Niagara  River.  But  the  State  of  New 
York  (if  we  call  her  legislature  herself)  will  not  let  them  use  this  river — will  not  let 
it  be  improved  and  fitted  for  their  use.  By  all  that  is  patriotic  and  national,  just  and 
generous,  fraternal  and  religions,  she  is  urged  to  permit  it.  Nevertheless,  she  with- 
stands the  appeal.    For  she  thinks  she  can  make  money  by  withstanding  it ;  and  it  Is 

money  that  she  is  after. 

******# 

I  do  not  complain  of  Buffalo  for  opposing  this  improvement.  I  do  not  complain 
that  her  selfishness  in  opposing  it  seems  to  be  as  great  as  the  selfishness  of  Os- 
wego in  advocating  it.  In  weighing  this  great  matter,  the  spirit,  as  well  as  the  in- 
terest, of  these  towns  is  to  be  '*  counted  as  the  small  dust  of  the  balance."  By  the  way. 
Burial o  is  blind,  and  Oswego  may  be  sadly  disappointed.  Whatever  shall  contribute 
to  draw  the  produce  of  the  West  to  the  foot  of  Lake  Erie  will  be  for  the  interest  of 
Buffalo.  The  Niagara  River  would,  with  its  proposed  improvement,  be  lined  with  ship- 
yards— ship-yards  for  both  lake  and  ocean  vessels.  Where  could  the  materials  for 
ship-building  nnd  for  a  vast  variety  of  manufactures  be  more  easily  collected?  These 
ship-ya:  ds  and  manufactures  would  be  largely  Buffalo's.  The  nnequaled  water-power 
created  by  tms  improvement  would  also  be  largely  Buffalo's.  From  her  commanding 
position,  great  population,  and  great  wealth,  Buffalo  would  necessarily  have  the  lion's 
share  of  that  vast  commerce,  which  would  soon  make  the  Niagara  River  and  the  foot 
of  Lake  Erie  one  of  the  busiest  scenes  of  earth.  Surely  danger  to  Buffalo  is  not  from 
routes  which  lead  to  her  and  by  her.  It  can  be  only  from  such  as  lead  elsewhere — as 
for  instance,  from  present  and  projected  routes  through  Canada,  and  from  rivers,  canals 
and  railroads,  that  attract  commerce  from  the  region  of  the  Lakes  to  Philadelphia,  Bal- 
timore, and  western  cities.  As  to  Oswego,  who  hopes  to  share  so  largely  in  the  in- 
creased commerce  of  Lake  Ontario — she  may  be  left  to  wonder  that  so  much  of  it  turns 
into  Rochester  and  so  much  into  Sodus,  and- that  so  much  goes  down  to  Ogdensburgh. 
to  Montreal,  to  Portland  and  Quebec.  In  passing,  let  me  say  that  one  of  the  loudest 
objections  to  this  improvement  of  the  Niagara  is  made  in  the  name  of  patriotism.  The 
objection  I  refer  to  is  that  the  improvement  will  divert  western  produce  from  our  own 
to  foreign  markets.  But  if  this  objection  is  well  taken,  then  we  have  in  it  the  very 
strongest  commercial  argument  for  the  improvement.  By  all  means  let  us  have- it,  if 
it  shall  give  to  eight  or  ten  of  our  Western  States  better  markets  in  Montreal  and  Que- 
bec than  they  now  enjoy  in  Portland,  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore. 
For  what,  compared  with  the  vital  interests  of  these  States,  is  the  consideration  that 
a  few  of  our  great  cities  will  grow  somewhat  faster  if  they  have  the  undivided  trade  of 
these  States. 

Away  with  all  this  narrowness!  No  man,  who  is  the  subject  of  it,  is  worthy  of  being 
called  a  statesman.  Give  to  the  West  the  best  possible  markets,  be  they  within  or 
without  the  nation.  Would  too  that  they  could  be  given  now,  while  she  is  suffering  so 
much  from  the  war,  and  while  the  commercial  and  manufacturing  East  is  profiting  so 
much  from  it ! 

I  fear,  however,  that  the  improvement  of  the  Niagara  would  not,  to  any  considerable 
extent,  give  new  and  better  markets  to  the  West.  Probably  nearly  all  her  commercial 
gains  from  it  would  be  the  cheapening  of  transportation  to  her  old  markets;  and,  by 
the  way,  this  cheapening  would  be  not  so  much  because  the  Niagara  is  the  cheapest 
route,  as  because  it  would  add  another  to  the  competitive  routes.  It  is  increased  com- 
petition for  the  transportation  of  her  products  that  the  West  needs. 

I  said  that  the  objection  in  question  is  made  in  the  name  of  patriotism.  The  objec- 
tion, as  well  as  the  patriotism,  is  affected.  Poor  is  that  patriotism  which  does  not  go 
for  the  country  and  the  whole  country.  And  as  to  the  objection— they  who  urge  it  do 
not  believe  in  it.  They  make  little  account— in  my  judgment  less  than  they  should— 
of  a  river  whose  month  is  blocked  up  half  the  year  with  ice.  It  is  interest  in  Buffalo 
and  in  the  western  portion  of  the  Erie  Canal  that  urges  the  objection. 

I  said  that  it  is  not  of  Congress  nor  of  Buffalo  that  I  complain.  It  is  of  our  own 
State — a  State  that  I  long  to  see  as  wise  and  just,  as  generous  and  patriotic,  as  she  is 
rich  and  populous.  A  year  ago  she  refused  to  incorporate  a  company  for  making  this 
necessary  improvement  in  the  Niagara.  Would  that  she  could  now  see  it  to  be  her 
duty  to  incorporate  such  a  company!  This,  however,  is  hardly  to  be  expected  in  the 
light  of  the  fuct  that  she  has  so  recently  planted  herself  squarely  and  effectually  in 
the  way  not  only  of  the  congressional  but  of  every  other  authorization  of  the  improve- 
ment. *Had  she' but  said  that  this  is  no  time  fo/the  Government  to  incur  a  debt  for 
such  a  work.  I  would  not  have  censured  her.  But  as  she  said  that  the  people  of  the 
Western  States  should  not  cross  her  territory  except  where  she  pleased  and  at  what 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


33 


price  she  pleased.  I  hasten  to  condemn  her.  By  the  way,  how  stnpid  in  two  points  of 
view  is  oar  State  in  dreading  the  Niagara  Eiver  as  a  rival  to  her  Erie  Canal.  l»t.  It 
is  her  own  river,  leading  down  her  own  lake  and  its  ontlet :  and  therefore  why  should 
she  dread  it  ?  *2d.  The  improvement  of  that  river  may  be  indispensable  to  save  her 
from  the  fast-innlti  plying  rivals  beyond  her  borders.  Instead  .of  being  wisely  afraid 
of  others,  she  is  foolishly  afraid  of  herself.  Or  rather,  she  refuses  to  adopt  another 
means  of  defense  against  foreign  rivalry  lest  it  may  prove  more  effective  than  her 
present  means.  A  very  silly  nation  wonld  be  that  which  should  refuse  to  build  a  new 
fort  lest  it  might  do  more  execution  than  the  old  one. 

And  then  how  ridiculously  conceited  is  our  State  in  assuming  that  her  present  ave- 
nues for  western  commerce  are  superior  to  all  possible  avenues  for  it  out  of  the  State  ! 
It  may  tnru  ont  that,  even  if  we  shall  avail  ourselves  of  our  greatest  natural  advan- 
tages fur  attracting  that  commerce,  we  shall  nevertheless  fail  to  enjoy  any  very  large 
portion  of  it.  There  are  far  shorter  routes  north  of  us:  and  the  routes  south  of  us, 
not  to  speak  of  their  other  advantages,  are  favored  with  a  climate  far  less  rigorous 
than  our  own.  In  fine,  it  may  turn  out.  not  that  the  improvement  of  the  Niagara 
River  is  indispensable  to  save  to  Buffalo  and  the  State  of  New  York  a  large  share  of 
western  commerce,  but  that,  even  with  this  improvement  and  every  other  possible  im- 
provement to  that  end,  the  most  of  it  will  go  elsewhere.  When  was  there  ever  greater 
stupidity  or  greater  conceit  than  that  which  our  State  is  now  illustrating  ?  She  is 
virtually  boasting  that,  with  one  hand  tied,  she  can  still  whip  the  world.  But  she  may 
yet  see  that  if  she  had  as  many  hands  as  Briareus,  she  would  nevertheless  need  them 
all  to-  reach  successfully  after  the  bulk  of  western  commerce.  Utterly  contemptuous 
of  all  commercial  rivalry  is  she.  Utterly  contemptuous,  in  this  respect,  is  she  of  Boa- 
ton  and  Philadelphia ;  and  of  Baltimore  too,  who,  now  that  she  is  relieved  of  the  incu- 
bus of  slavery,  is  to  be  no  mean  competitor  for  the  trade  of  the  West-  Of  the  Saint  Law- 
rence she  makes  no  more  account  than  does  Behemoth  of  a  river.  ff*  Behold,  he  drinketh 
up  a  river,  and  hasteth  not."  And  as  to  little  Mississippi,  it  is  but  enough  to  rinse  her 
mouth  with,  as  Jordan  was  but  enough  for  the  like  service  to  Behemoth.  ;t  He  trasteth 
that  he  can  draw  up  Jordan  into  his  mouth."'  She  allows  her  present  commercial  pre- 
eminence to  assure  her  of  her  future  commercial  pre-eminence.  Certain  is  she  that 
'k  To-morrow  shall  be  as  this  day  aud  much  more  abundant." 

Poor  Stare  of  New  York !  She  is  shriveled  by  her  petty  policy;  and  this  petty  policy 
has  come  of  her  vanity  and  greed.  Tell  her  that  the  improvement  of  the  Niagara  will 
add  to  the  business  of  her  canals  and  railroads  an  drivers  and  towns,  and  she  will 
straightway  answer  you  that  her  tolls  in  this  or  that  section  may  be  diminished  by 
it.  She  is  after  tolls  instead  of  commerce.  In  her  folly  she  makes  tolls  the  primary 
and  commerce  the  secondary  consideration.  She  "  holds  at  the  spigot  while  it  runs  at 
the  bung.'r 

Alas,  our  States!  No  wonder  they  have  fallen  asunder.  Slavery  and  avarice  have 
done  their  work  upon  them.  Instead  of  loving  each  other,  and  working  together  to 
build  up  the  noblest  nation  on  the  earth,  they,  like  the  States  of  ancient  Greece,  are 
jealous  of  each  other,  and  hate  each  other,  and  «work  against  each  other.  Seeiug  that 
our  nation  is  composed  of  such  selfish  and  niurna?ly  warring  elements,  what  betier  can 
we  expect  for  her  than  a  short  and  unhappy  existence  ? 

The  doubt  is  sometimes  expressed  whether  we  Yankees  are  capable  of  beedming 
Christians.  The  reason  for  the  doubt  is  that  our  individuality  is  so  intense :  or,  in  less 
flattering  phrase,  that  we  are  so  intensely  selfish,  and  so  prone  to  pull  and  haul,  each 
to  his  own  side  and  to  his  own  interest.  For  the  like  reason  may  it  not  be  doubted 
whether'we  Yankees  are  capable  of  becoming  a  prosperous  and  permanent  nation? 

New  Jersey  a  Christian  State !  New  York  a  Christain  State !  Say  not  so  !  To  be  a 
Christian  is  to  fall  in  with  Christ's  God.  But  who  is  so  foolish  as  to  believe  that  Christ's 
God  sees  with  complacency  New  Jersey  and  New  York  so  greedy  of  gain  as  to  throw 
themselves  across  the  pathway  of  His  children,  aud  demand  a  fee  for  allowing  them 
commercial  and  fraternal  intercourse  ?  Does  Christ's  God  refuse  His  Niagara  Eiver  to 
His  children  in  the  Western  Stat*-s  ?  O  no  !  He  made  it  for  them  more  than  for  His 
children  in  this  State,  because  they  need  it  more. 

And  say  not  that  New  Jersey  and  New  York  are  patriotic  and  national  States.  They 
are  breaking  up  our  nation  :  and  this,  too.  under  an  infinitely  feebler  temptation  than 
that  which  the  Southern  States  yielded  to  when  they  broke  off  from  it.  The  time  is 
past  for  sayiug  to  either  New  Jersey  or  New  York :  *k  Considering  thyself,  lest  thou  also 
be  tempted.''  They  have  both  been  tempted,  and  they  have  both  fallen.  And  so  long 
as  they  continue  to  deny  to  their  sister  States  the  right  of  way — a  right  as  clear,  certain, 
aud  natural  as  the  right  to  breathe— so  loug  will  the  man,  who  judges  States  by  their 
dispositions  as  well  as  their  deeds,  class  New  Jersey  and  New  York  with  South  Carolina 
aud  the  other  rebel  States. 

Surely,  surely,  if  the  day  shall  ever  come  when  a  sounder  patriotism  and  a  jnster 
understanding  of  commercial  interests  shall  obtain  in  the  State  of  New  York,  it  will 
not  then  be  held  to  have  been  an  honor  to  belong  to  her  legislatures,  which  lefused  the 
people  of  the  Western  States  a  cheaper  ronte  across  her  territory. 

H.  Mis.  22  3 


34 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


I  said  that  we  must  not  call  New  Jersey  and  New  York  Christian  States.  Christ's 
religion  bids  ns  extend  good  not  only  to  sister  States,  but  it  bids  us  "  go  into  all  the 
world"  with  the  good — even  down  the  Saint  Lawrence. 

What  must  we  poor  Yankees  do?  We  cannot  adopt  Auguste  Comte's  positive  reli- 
gion, for  that  expressly  desires  us  to  live  "  pourautnti " — for  others— for  "family,  country, 
humanity."  We  cannot  adopt  that  religion,  for  we  insist  on  self-seeking  as  our  practical 
rule.  Nor,  though  we  loudly  profess  it,  can  we  really  adopt  Christianity.  For  this 
religion  not  only  requires  us  to  live  for  all  mankind,  but  for  their  Maker  also.  Are  we 
fated,  then,  to  be  nothing  better  than  self-seeking  atheists  ? 
With  great  regard,  your  friend, 

GERRIT  SMITH. 

Hon.  Horace  Greeley. 

Second.  Another  reason  urged  by  the  Buffalo  Board  of  Trade  against 
the  further  prosecution  of  the  enterprise  for  the  construction  of  the  Ni- 
agara Falls  Ship-Canal  is  "that,  by  the  opening  up  of  this  water-route 
to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  the  agricultural  products  of  the  West,  going  to 
a  European  market,  would  reach  their  destination  down  the  river  and 
gulf  of  Saint  Lawrence  by  a  route  700  miles  shorter  than  to  go  by  the 
Erie  Canal  and  Hudson  Biver  to  New  York  City,  thence  to  Europe,  and 
thereby  the  trade  and  commerce  of  that  city  and  the  Erie  Canal  would 
be  very  greatly  damaged." 

Here  the  Board  of  Trade  of  Buffalo  appeal  directly  to  the  patriotism 
of  the  people  of  the  West.  This  appeal  ought,  under  all  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances, to  have  great  weight  in  the  determination  of  any  question 
of  the  magnitude  and  importance  of  this.  But  we  must  remember  that 
the  Erie  Canal  is,  at  the  present  time,  by  the  free  and  unqualified  ad- 
mission of  its  friends,  utterly  inadequate  to  meet  the  reasonable  demands 
and  necessities  of  the  people  of  the  whole  country,  and  more  especially 
of  the  people  of  the  West;  and  yet  the  people  of  the  State  of  New  York 
at  the  autumn  election  in  1868,  on  a  question  of  "  enlargement  of  the  Erie 
Canal,"  voted  against  the  proposition  by  nearly  one  hundred  thousand 
majority.  And  yet  the  Board  of  Trade  of  Buffalo,  and  through  them  pos- 
sibly a  large  portion  of  the  people  of  the  State  of  New  York,  in  somewhat 
piteous  terms  appeals  to  the  people  of  the  West  "  not  to  inflict  so  great 
an  injury  upon  the  people  of  that  city  and  State  as  to  divert  (heir  trade 
to  Europe  and  the  Eastern  States  down  the  Saint  Lawrence,"  although 
it  be  more  than  eight  hundred  miles  shorter  than  by  the  Erie  Canal  and 
New  York  City,  and  although  they  can  carry  their  produce  to  those 
markets  for  less  than  one-third  the  cost.  (See  Buffalo  protest,  page  35, 
in  proceedings  of  Detroit  convention,  1871.)  This  appeal  would  almost 
seem  to  be  a  direct  insult  to  the  intelligence  and  independent  spirit  of 
the  people  of  the  West,  but  surely  it  could  not  have  been  so  intended. 
Still  this  supposition  has  additional  illustration  in  the  action  of  that  Board 
of  Trade  and  the  city  council  and  citizens  generally  of  Buffalo  during  the 
pendency  of  a  law  granting  the  right  of  way  for  the  Niagara  Falls  Ship- 
Canal  before  the  legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York  at  its  last  session, 
1872.  They  sent  down  to  Albany  an  immense  lobby  (several  hundred) 
expressly  to  work  against  and  if  possible  defeat  that  bill,  and  they  did 
defeat  it.  It  would  appear  that  the  language  of  Mr.  Allen,  of  Buffalo, 
in  the  Detroit  commercial  convention  in  1865,  (proceedings,  page  93,)  is 
the  language  of  Buffalo  and  its  confederate  monopolists  of  to-day.  Mr. 
Allen  said  : 

The  Empire  State,  (of  New  York,)  with  one  arm  on  the  lakes  and  the  other  on  the 
ocean,  commands  the  route  to  the  sea-board,  and  was  not  to  be  insulted  by  that  conven- 
tion. 

What  was  that  convention  and  those  gentlemen  doing  that  should  call 
out  such  a  portentous  and  significant  warning  from  one  of  the  most 
prominent  and  wealthy  citizens  of  Buffalo?    Simply  and  only  this:  rep- 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


35 


resentative  men,  as  delegates  from  nearly  every  State  and  commercial 
center  in  the  country,  as  also  from  every  province  and  every  city  in  the 
Dominion  of  Canada,  to  the  number  of  about  seven  hundred,  had  peaceably 
and  quietly  come  together  at  Detroit  to  consult  together, and,  it  possible, 
devise  some  plan  to  cheapen  transportation  between  the  East  and  West. 
One  plan  proposed  was  this  ship-canal.  That  was  all  the  cause  there  was 
for  this  fiery  menace.  Such  also  was  the  object  of  the  Detroit  conven- 
tion in  1871 — u  cheap  transportation  " — nothing  more,  nothing  less.  The 
people  of  the  West  will,  therefore,  understand  that  any  attempt  to  secure 
"cheap  transportation"  by  going  round  the  falls  of  Niagara,  will  be  con- 
sidered as  an  u  insult  to  the  great  Nate  of  New  York,"  (the  Empire  State.) 
We  cannot  view  the  question  in  that  light,  nor  do  many  of  her  most 
prominent  citizens.  The  following  additional  letter  of  Hon.  Gerritt 
Smith  sets  forth  the  action  of  the  legislature  of  that  State  on  this  sub- 
ject in  its  true  light : 

NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 

The  people  of  our  Western  States  rely  on  the  sale  of  their  surplus  produce  to  furnish 
themselves  with  the  coruforts  and  conveniences  of  life.  Hence  their  chief  concern  is  to 
get  the  largest  price  for  it — the  largest  net  payment  for  it.  To  this  end  they  seek  out 
as  many  markets  as  they  can,  and  the  most  favorable  routes  to  them.  Sorely  there  is 
nothing  iu  all  this  that  is  unreasonable;  nothing  in  this  that  others  should  not  take 
pleasure  in  permitting  and  promoting.  Nevertheless  in  these  important  respects  the 
State  of  New  York  not  only  shows  no  favor  to  the  West,  but  arrays  herself  in  positive 
and  heartless  opposition  to  it.  The  West  wants  a  way  to  market  through  a  canal 
around  Niagara  Falls,  and  she  is  williug  to  pay  for  the  few  acres  of  land  which  the 
canal  would  take.  But  the  State  of  New  York,  through  her  legislature,  withholds  her 
consent;  and  withholds  it  under  the  plea  that  this  canal  would  divert  some  of  this 
western  produce  from  the  Erie  Canal. 

Surely,  such  a  selfish  and  narrow  spirit  as  is  here  exhibited  by  our  State,  wonld,  if 
exercised  by  one  individual  toward  another,  be  condemued  by  all  right-minded  meu. 
The  generous  and  fraternal  spirit  which  should  actuate  States  and  nations  as  well  as 
individuals  iu  their  intercourse  with  each  other,  would  rejoice  not  in  shutting  cut  the 
West  from  this  or  that  market,  but  in  facilitating  her  access  to  as  many  markets  as 
possible.  Of  comparatively  little  moment  to  the  State  of  New  York  is  it  whether  the 
Erie  Canal  shall  have  somewhat  more  or  somewhat  less  of  western  freight ;  but  a  vital 
question  to  the  West  is  it  whether  she  shall  enjoy  the  best  markets  and  the  best  routes 
to  them. 

This  making  money  out  of  the  necessities  of  others — necessities,  too,  which  we  are 
responsible  for  producing — is  a  mean  and  wicked  business;  and  this  is  the  mean  and 
wicked  business  which  the  State  of  New  York  is  carrying  on  against  her  western  sisters. 
But  will  she  be  able  to  do  more  than  to  try  to  make  money  out  of  their  necessities  i 
More  probable  is  it  that  she  will  lose  than  make  out  of  them.  Her  unrighteous  greed 
of  gain  is  carrying  her  too  far  for  her  own  success.  It  will  drive  the  West  to  markets 
through  Canada,  Pennsylvania,  and  the  Mississippi. 

Fighting  in  this  wise  against  the  Western  States,  New  York  fights  against  their  and 
her  Common  Father.  His  will,  as  revealed  in  all  nature  and  providence,  is  that  States 
and  nations,  as  well  as  individuals,  are  to  help  and  not  hinder  each  other;  and  that 
they  are  to  find  their  prosperity  and  happiness  iu  the  practice  toward  each  other  not 
of  selfishness  but  of  benevolence.  "The  earth  is  the  Lord's  and  the  fullness  thereof." 
Hence  we  are  to  use  it  aud  suffer  it  to  be  used  in  harmony  with  His  laws  and  His  lov- 
iug-kimlness.  To  withhold  from  the  West  her  vitally  needed  use  of  these  few  acres 
around  the  great  cataract  is  virtually  to  deny  the  title  of  God  himself  to  them. 

How  long  will  our  United  States  remain  united  ?  Only  so  long  as  they  shall  deal 
righteously  and  fraternally  with  each  other.  They  will  soon  fall  apart,  if  that  spirit 
shall  become  general  among  them  which  New  York  is  manifesting  toward  her  western 
sisters.  The  South  adopted  the  bad  policy  of  dissolving  the  Union.  Let  not  New  York 
also  adopt  it. 

GERRITT  SMITH. 

April  8,  1872. 

The  reply,  by  its  resolutions,  of  that  Detroit  convention,  of  1865,  is 
the  very  best  answer  to  the  menace  of  Buffalo,  as  expressed  by  Mr. 
Allen,  on  the  attitude  and  action  of  that  State,  that  can  be  given,  to 
wit: 

3d.  Iienohed,  That  the  State  of  New  York,  geographically  located  on  the  highway  of 


36 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


commerce,  between  the  great  chain  of  lakes,  to  the  sea-board,  and  having  within  her 
borders  the  commercial  metropolis  of  the  nation,  is  bound,  by  every  consideration  of 
interest  aud  true  policy, <and  by  the  comity  she  owes  her  sister  States,  to  improve  and 
enlarge  the  shortest  water-communication  between  the  lakes  and  tide-water.  Failing 
to  do  so,  slie  must  not  complain  if  a  portion  of  her  great  inland  commerce  shall  be  diverted 
through  other  and  cheaper  channels  of  communication.  (Proceedings  of  convention,  1865, 
page  96.) 

That  is  the  only,  because  the  best,  answer  we  can  make  to  all  the 
threats  and  menaces  which,  on  all  occasions,  are  constantly  emanating 
from  a  portion  of  the  people  of  that  State  whenever  this  question  of 
"cheap  transportation"  comes  up  for  discussion  and  elucidation.  Had 
the  people  of  that  State  shown  the  least  disposition  to  meet  the  reason- 
able demands  and  necessities  of  the  people  of  the  West  for  greater 
facilities  and  cheaper  rates  of  transportation,  they,  and  especially  the 
people  of  Buffalo,  would  not,  in  all  probability,  be  alarmed  and  con- 
stantly harassed  in  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  those  monopolies 
which  they  have  succeeded  in  fastening  upon  the  industry  and  com- 
merce of  the  West  by  the  continued  and  persistent  efforts  of  the  west- 
ern farmers,  laborers,  and  commercial  men  to  break  down  that  rocky 
barrier  at  Niagara  Falls,  and  thus  to  reach  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

But  perhaps  we  are  judging  the  people  of  that  State  too  harshly.  In 
all  the  opposition  of  the  people  of  New  York  to  the  proposed  enlarge- 
ment of  the  Erie  Canal,  and  more  especially  when  that  vote  on  the  ques- 
tion was  taken,  in  1868,  they  fully  understood  the  difficulties  and  objec- 
tions (heretofore  set  forth)  against  the  attempted  enlargement  of  that 
canal.  They  well  knew  that  it  was  a  practical  impossibility,  because 
their  engineers,  and  other  public  officers  whose  duty  it  was  to  solve  that 
exact  question,  and  who  had  faithfully  and  successfully  done  so,  had 
repeatedly  told  them  so;  and  therefore  they  had  intelligently  voted 
against  the  proposition  of  enlargement  because  they  kneiv  that  it  was  an 
utterly  impracticable  scheme.  They  knetv  that  it  was  utterly  impossible 
to  supply  water  on  the  "Syracuse  level"  for  any  enlargement  whatever; 
and  they  knew  also  that  it  was  equally  impossible  to  bring  the  waters 
of  Lake  Erie  up  on  to  that  level.  And  much  more  than  these  facts  did 
the  people  of  the  State  of  New  York  know,  and  thus  they  voted  against 
enlargement,  aud  will  probably  do  so  every  time  the  question  comes  up; 
and  they  will  do  right.  It  will  be  just  so  much  of  the  public  money 
thrown  away  and  utterly  wasted.  And  more  especially  do  they  know 
that  such  enlargement  cannot  meet  the  demands  and  necessities  of  the 
people  of  the  West. 

BIGHT  OF  TRANSIT  FOR  THIS  CANAL  GRANTED  BY  THE  LEGISLATURE 

OF  NEW  YORK. 

But  we  probably  do  the  people  of  New  York  injustice  in  another  par- 
ticular. Thus  far  we  have  treated  this  subject  as  if  the  people  of  that 
State,  in  their  legislative  and  official  capacity,  had  obstinately  and  per- 
sistently refused  the  right  of  transit  for  this  canal  across  their  territory. 
Such,  however,  is  not  the  fact.  In  the  session  for  1840  the  legislature 
adopted  the  following  joint  resolution,  which  has  the  full  force  and  effect 
of  a  statute,  to  wit : 

RESOLUTIONS  relative  to  ship-canal  around  Niagara  Falls. 

Resolred,  (if  the  senate  concur,)  That  the  consent  of  this  legislature  is  hereby  given  to 
the  construction,  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  of  a  ship-canal  around  the 
falls  of  Niagara,  and  that  the  Senators  and  Representatives  of  this  State,  in  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States,  be  requested  to  use  their  best  efforts  to  procure  the  passage 
of  a  bill  for  this  purpose. 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


37 


Resolved,  (if  the  senate  concur.)  That  the  governor  of  this  State  he  requested  to  trans- 
mit to  each  of  the  Representatives  of  this  State,  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
a  copy  of  the  foregoing  resolution. 

In  assembly,  February  15,  1^40. 

By  order: 

P.  B.  PRINGLE,  Clerk. 
In  Senate,  April  18,  1840. 

Resolved,  That  the  senate  do  concur  with  the  assembly  in  their  said  resolutions. 
By  order: 

SAM.  G.  ANDREWS,  Clerk. 
(Session  Laws  and  Concurrent  Resolutions  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  session  1840,  page  250.) 

RAILROADS  CANNOT  FURNISH  CHEAP  TRANSPORTATION. 

Of  railroads  little  need  be  said — nothing  to  their  disparagement— only 
this,  that  they  can  never  give  to  the  country  " cheap  transportation?  In 
this,  as  in  all  other  systems  and  enterprises,  there  is  a  point  in  the  scale 
of  prices  below  which  they  cannot  go,  and  no  reliance  whatever  can  or 
should  be  placed,  by  the  business  interests  of  the-  country,  upon  any 
temporary  reduction  below  that  point.  SLould,  for  example,  two  cents 
per  ton  per  mile  be  the  minimum  point  in  the  price  of  profitable  rail- 
road transportation,  any  reduction  below  that  point  would  and  could  be 
only  temporary,  and,  in  the  end,  would  work  disaster  and  ruin  to  all 
classes  of  business  alike — transportation,  manufacturing,  agriculture, 
and  commerce,  and  the  railroads  as  well.  Every  continuous  line  of  rail- 
road from  the  Atlantic  sea-board  to  the  foot  of  Lake  Erie  has  cost  about 
$100,000,000;  at  least  that  is  the  amount  of  stock  represented.  The 
experience  of  this  country,  as  also  of  Europe,  is,  that  every  railroad, 
including  rolling-stock,  depots,  road-bed,  indeed  everything,  wears  out 
entirely  once  in  ten  years.  This  does  not  include  casualties  by  break- 
age, fire,  &c.  This  will  require  a  levy  upon  the  public  travel  and  busi- 
ness of  the  country  passing  over  it  of  10  per  cent,  per  annum  on  the 
whole  capital  stock  invested,  to  keep  it  in  repair,  and  at  least  10  per 
cent,  more  for  operating  expenses,  breakage,  and  other  casualties,  inter- 
est on  capital  invested,  dividends,  &c,  making  20  per  cent,  in  all,  or 
$20,000,000  upon  every  8100,000,000  invested.  It  will  be  readily  under- 
stood that,  under  such  circumstances,  that  road  cannot  by  any  possi- 
bility furnish  cheap  transportation  and  at  the  same  time  do  a  safe  and 
remunerative  business.  The  same  ratio  holds  if  the  capital  invested  be 
only  one-half,  or  any  other  amount. 

The,  amount  which  such  a  road  would  be  obliged  to  levy  upon  the 
industry  of  the  country  in  a  single  year  to  keep  up  those  repairs  would 
very  nearly  open  up  this  entire  water-route  to  its  utmost  capacity  from 
the  valley  of  the  Missis  sippi  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

This,  however,  is  but  oue  of  several  roads — four  or  five,  all  of  which 
must  do  precisely  the  same  thing,  at  the  same  time  their  carrying 
capacity  one  way  (from  West  to  East,  for  example)  does  not  exceed  two 
and  a  half  million  tons  per  annum.  Experience  has  demonstrated  that 
railroads  cannot  reduce  their  rates  below  2  cents  per  ton  per  mile  and  do 
a  safe  or  profitable  business. 

On  pages  433  434  of  the  State  engineer's  report  of  Xew  York  for  the  year 
1863,  the  rates  of  transportation  on  the  Xew  York  Central  and  Xew  Yoik 
and  Erie,  from  1856  to  1861,  inclusive,  range  from  1  cent  and  8  mills  to  3 
cents  and  4  mills,  and  average  about  2  cents  and  4  mills  per  ton  per  mile, 
making  an  aggregate  for  the  whole  distance  of  upward  of  610  per  ton, 
or  more  thau  30  cents  for  a  bushel  of  wheat.  On  page  130  of  the  report 
for  the  year  1864,  the  charges  for  the  years  1802-63  were  as  follows :  In 


38 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


1863,  Erie  road,  1.89  cents  per  ton  per  mile,  of  which  61.93  per  cent,  was 
actual  cost  of  transportation,  and  of  course  38.07  per  cent. — about  \  of 
a  cent — was  profit ;  that  is  the  percentage  to  be  levied  to  keep  the  road 
in  repair  and  other  purposes,  and  does  not  include  wear  and  tear,  break- 
age, interest  on  capital,  &c.  For  the  year  1863,  the  charges  and  expenses 
for  transportation  were  considerably  higher,  the  cost  and  profit  being  in 
about  the  same  ratio. 

Taking  the  thirteen  principal  roads  of  that  State,  (New  York,)  and 
the  average  charge  for  those  years  (1856-63)  was  about  2.78  cents 
(about  2§  cents)  per  ton  per  mile,  of  which  about  55  per  cent,  was  actual 
cost  of  transportation,  and  of  course  45  per  cent,  profit.  This  would  be 
about  35  cents  per  bushel  on  wheat.  This  does  not  include  interest  on 
capital  invested,  breakage,  wear  and  tear,  &c.  These  included,  and  the 
margin  of  profit  would  be  very  small,  if  anything  at  all.  In  1864  the 
average  charges  on  the  Erie  road  were  about  1  cent  and  7  mills  per  ton 
per  mile,  or  about  one-fourth  of  1  cent  per  ton  per  mile  less  than  cost. 
The  annual  report  of  the  auditor  of  the  canal  department  of  New  York 
for  the  year  1868  shows  that  the  average  charges  for  transportation  of 
freight  over  the  roads  for  that  year  were  about  2f  cents  per  ton  per 
mile.  These  charges  will  average  about  $31  per  ton,  or  about  78  cents 
for  a  bushel  of  wheat  from  the  Mississippi  Valley  to  New  York  City. 
The  average  rate  now  charged  by  roads  west  of  the  lakes  is  about  4 
cents  per  ton  per  mile.  Special  rates  are  somewhat  lower,  but  seldom 
less  than  3  cents  per  ton  per  mile.  Water-transit  never  exceeds  1 
cent  per  ton  per  mile.  During  the  season  of  water-navigation  through 
the  lakes  and  Erie  Canal,  and  with  railroad  transportation  only 
to  the  lakes,  these  charges  could  be,  and  probably  are,  somewhat  re- 
duced, and  are  much  lower  when  there  is  not  a  pressure  upon  the  ton- 
nage capacity  of  the  vessels  on  the  lakes  and  canal.  But  during  the 
mouths  of  September,  October,  and  November,  when  all  the  present 
avenues  of  transportation  are  taxed  to  their  utmust  capacity  to  move 
the  wheat  and  other  crops  of  the  West  to  market,  the  charges  of  trans- 
portation run  up  to  more  than  double  those  rates — often  to  5,  6,  7,  and  8 
cents  per  ton  per  mile.  It  Js  a  common  saying  among  large  transporters 
on  the  Erie  Canal,  "  that  if  they  can  make  their  boats  pay  expenses 
during  the  season,  and  secure  one  load  to  each  boat  at  the  high  rates 
during  the  pressure  of  moving  the  western  grain-crop  to  market,  they 
have  made  an  excellent  season's  business."  The  foregoing  are  but  a  few 
brief  examples  taken  from  a  vast  amount  of  record  evidence  on  this 
subject  of  transportation  by  rail,  all  of  which  clearly  and  unmistakably 
establishes  the  proposition  that  "cheap  transportation"  by  rail  is  en- 
tirely out  of  the  question.  It  can  never-  be  secured.  Experience  has 
most  iucontestably  demonstrated  that- they  cannot  reduce  their  rates 
below  2  cents  per  ton  per  mile  and  do  a  safe  or  profitable  business.  We 
must,  therefore,  look  to  other  agencies  to  secure  the  needed  demand,  to 
wit,  "cheap  transportation."  Experience  has  also  demonstrated  that 
the  agricultural  interest  of  the  West  must  have  transportation  from  the 
interior  to  the  Atlantic  sea  board,  at  a  rate  not  to  Exceed  5  mills  (J  cent) 
per  ton  per  mile,  as  it  now  has  on  the  great  lakes.  This  it  can  only  se- 
cure by  means  of  the  proposed  water-route.  With  that  route  the  West 
can  successfully  compete  in  the  grain-markets  of  western  Europe,  with 
the  Baltic  and  Black  Sea  provinces,  and  not  before. 

COST  OF  TRANSPORTATION  FROM  THE  BALTIC  AND  BLACK  SEAS.  • 

It  costs  about  35  cents  per  bushel  to  transport  wheat  from  the  Baltic 
provinces  to  Liverpool,  and  about  45  cents  from  the  Black  Sea  provinces. 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


39 


Now,  to  successfully  compete  with  that  wheat  in  the  Liverpool  and 
other  markets  of  Western  Europe,  we  must  reduce  the  cost  from  the 
grain-fields  of  the  West  to  those  markets  to  about  30  cents  per  bushel. 
This  can  only  be  done  by  reducing  the*  cost  of  water-rates.  And  this 
can  only  be  secured  by  opening  up  continuous  steam-navigation  of  large 
capacity  from  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  tc  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  That 
prices  will  thus  be  reduced  by  opening  this  route  will  be  most  clearly 
demonstrated  by  referring  to  the  following  tables: 

Route  from  Dubuque,  Iowa,  by  way  of  Wisconsin  and  Fox  Rivers,  the  northern  lakes,  and 
river  St.  Lawrence,  to  Liverpool. 


o 

Cents. 
8.6 
4.  2 
7.9 
17.1 
.6 


Dubuque  to  mouth  of  Wisconsin  River  

From  mouth  Wisconsin  to  Green  Bajr,  via  rivers  and  canal' 

From  Green  Bay  to  Montreal  

From  Montreal'to  Liverpool  

Add  two  transfers  


Total. 


70 

280 
1.061 

2,  850 


Mills. 

3 
5 

2* 
2 


60  21 

1  40 

2  65 
5  70 

20 


Cents. 
1.  1 
7.0 
13.2 
28.5 
1.0 


10  16    50.  6  1    30.  4 


Route  by  rail  to  the  lakes,  thence  by  lake  to  Buffalo,  thence  by  the  Erie  Canal  and  Hudson 
River  to  New  York,  thence  to  Liverpool.* 


From  Dubuque  bv  rail  to  Chicago   188 

From  Chicago  to  Buffalo   1,  061 

From  Buffalo  to  Albany,  (canal)   350 

Albany  to  New  York,  (river).  :  150 

New  York  to  Liverpool  |  3, 150 

Add  tbree  transfers    


Cents. 
3.0 

.2* 

.5 

.3 

.2 


85  64 
2  65 
1  75 

45 
6  30 

30 


Total. 


4,  899 


17  09 


Note. — These  rates  are  tie  lowest  that  are  ever  charged.  When  theie  is  a  heavy 
pressure  on  the  several  routes  these  rates  are  very  often  doubled,  trebled,  and  .some- 
times quadrupled,  and  even  rates  still  higher  are  exacted.  Whereas,  on  the  through 
lake  route,  such  combinations  to  put  up  the  prices  on  transportation  can  never  prove 
successful,  because  its  capacity,  being  practically  unlimited,  freights  can  be  forwarded 
so  rapidly  iu  such  vast  quantities,  and  at  such  low  rates,  that  there  can  never  be  a 
blockade,  or  pressure  even,  either  upon  thai  or  any  other  avenue  of  transportation. 
Kates  for  transportation  can  rever  be  "  put  up"  or  increased,  unless  freights  have  so 
much  accumulated  that  they  canuot  be  forwarded  in  good  time.  The  whole  opposition 
therefore  to  this  water-route  monies  from  the  citizens  of  Buffalo,  and  those  interested 
with  them,  in  their  efforts  and  determination  to  retain  the  power  to  create  blockades 
in  the  freight  business,  and  bj  that  means  to  exact  enormous  charges  for  transit  at 
certain  seasons  of  the  year.  Ii  other  words,  it  is  a  persistent  and  relentless  war  of 
monopolists  and  moneyed  combinations  against  the  most  vital  interests  of  the  whole 
country,  and  more  especially  tha  West.  And  what  makes  these  efforts  the  more  inex- 
cusable and  cruel  is,  that  they  operate  directly  and  immediately  upou  those  classes 

*  This  table  exhibits  the  lowest  rates  at  which  freights  to  or  from  the  interior  can  be  carried  at  a  fair 
profit.   The  same  is  also  true,  generally,  of  the  rates  by  the  river  aud  Gulf  of  Saiut  Lawrence. 


40 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


least  able  to  endure  these  exactions,  to  wit,  the  small  farmers,  who  do  their  own  work, 
scattered  all  over  the  broad  prairies  of  the  West,  and  the  mechanics,  operatives,  and 
laborers  in  our  eastern  cities  and  manufacturing  districts.  If  the  costs  of  transporta- 
tion be  high,  high  prices  for  provisions,  indeed,  of  all  the  necessaries  of  life,  are  inevi- 
table. The  one  follows  the  other  as  sure  as  night  follows  the  day.  Hence  the  strikes 
and  other  difficulties  among  mechanics  and  operatives  in  cities  and  manufacturing 
districts. 

The  above  rates  on  the  Erie  Canal  are  the  minimum.  When  the  pressure  from  the  West 
is  great  to  move  the  crop  to  market,  transporters  extort  double,  treble,  and  often  even 
quadruple  the  usual  rates.  Shippers  must  get  their  grain  and  other  produce  to  market ; 
hence  they  must  submit  to  these  exorbitant  rates  or  do  worse.  The  railroads  also 
enter  into  these  oppressive  combinations,  and  thus,  between  the  two,  enormous  aud 
ruinous  extortions  are  exacted  from  the  agricultuial  industry  of  the  West.  In  all  such 
combinations  and  extortions  the  farmers  are  the  sufferers. 

THE  WELLAND  CANAL  NOT   NOW  AND  NEVER  CAN  BE  A  SUBSTITUTE 
FOR  THE  NIAGARA  FALLS  SHIP-CANAL. 

Some  people,  and  among  them  many  grain-dealers  and  other  com- 
mercial men,  claim  that  the  Welland  Canal  can  be  so  enlarged  as  to 
meet  the  demands  and  necessities  of  the  country.  Those  thus  holding 
cannot  be  well  posted  on  the  facts  of  this  Welland  Canal.  There  are 
several  reasons  why  the  American  people  should  never  accept  that 
canal  as  a  substitute  for  a  canal  around  the  Falls  of  Niagara  on  the 
American  side: 

First.  The  people  of  this  country  should  always  retain  control  of  their 
own  commerce  between  the  two  sections,  to  wit,  the  West  and  East, 
which  they  cannot  do  if  they  accept  that  canal  in  lieu  of  one  on  the 
American  side.  The  original  purpose  of  the  British  and  Canadian  gov- 
ernments in  the  construction  of  the  Saint  Lawrence  canals,  and  espe- 
cially of  the  Welland  Canal,  was  to  control  American  commerce  coming 
down  the  lakes.  The  committee  appointed  by  the  Canadian  legislative 
assembly  in  1855  unhesitatingly  affirm,  in  their  report,  (page  3,)  "  that 
the  Saint  Lawrence  canals  were  constructed,  at  a  large  public  expendi- 
ture, for  the  express  purpose  of  drawing  the  trade  of  the  Western  States 
to  the  ports  of  Montreal  and  Quebec." 

The  Hon.  A.  T.  Gait,  finance  minister  of  Canada,  1860,  makes  the 
same  remark,  and  then  goes  on  to  say,  "  that  the  canals  of  Canada  had 
cost  that  government  £8,884,070,  or  813,001,812,  leaving  only  £i'2,272, 
or  $108,7130,  as  the  total  direct  debt  of  Canada  made  for  any  other  pur- 
pose; hence,  that  such  legislation  should  be  adopted  by  the  Canadian 
parliament  as  that  a  revenue  could  be  secured  from  American  commerce, 
passing  through  them."  Upon  his  recommendation  a  system  of  "  ad  valo- 
rem" duties  was  imposed  upon  our  commerce,  which  was  justified  by  the 
organs  of  the  government  on  the  ground  ''that  the  increase  was  rendered 
necessary  to  meet  the  expenditures  in  carrying  out  their  system  of  in- 
ternal improvements." — (Eeport  of  select  committee  of  legislative  assem- 
bly, 1858,  to  inquire  into  the  course  of  trade  wit(i  America,  &c,  page  3.) 

Now  if  we  depend  upon  the  Welland  Canal  as/ a  part  of  the  system  of 
continuous  steam-navigation  from  the  West  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean  some 
snch  means  will  still  be  devised  to  levy  those/exactions  upon  our  com- 
merce, notwithstanding  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  of  Washington  "con- 
ceding the  free  navigation  of  the  Saint  Lawre/ice." 

But  it  may  be  claimed  that  the  same  objection  may  be  made  against 
the  Saint  Lawrence  canals.  That  may  be  true  to  some  extent,  but  to  a 
limited  one  only.  By  reaching  Lake  Outari/)  through  a  canal  on  the 
American  side  we  secure,  at  Oswego  and  otper  points,  another  system 
of  canals  and  railroads,  extending  to  the  sea-board,  the  competition  of 
which  will  effectually  protect  us,  on  the  one  hand  from  the  extortions  of 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


41 


the  Erie  Canal  and  railroads  from  the  foot  of  Lake  Erie,  and  on  the  other 
from  like  extortions  of  the  Saint  Lawrence  canals.  The  history  of  the 
past  clearly  and  incontestably  demonstrates  that  the  competition  of  the 
Well  and  Canal  and  the  Canada  railroads  has  not  materially  or  even 
sensibly  affected  the  enormous  and  oppressive  monopolies  which  the  Erie 
Canal  and  the  New  York  railroads  have  succeeded  in  fastening  upon 
western  commerce;  nor  is  there  the  slightest  prospect  that  they  can  do 
so  in  the  future,  notwithstanding  that  canal  may  be  enlarged  to  the  con- 
templated capacity,  to  wit,  one  thousand  tons. 

/  • 

THE  CANADIAN  GOVERNMENT  CONTEMPLATES  THE  ENLARGEMENT  OF 
THE  WELLAND  CANAL  TO  ONE  THOUSAND  TONS  ONLY. 

The  Canadian  government  only  contemplates  the  enlargement  of  the 
Welland  and  other  canals  of  the  Dominion  to  a  capacity  of  one  thousand 
tons. 

In  the  report  of  the  canal  commissioners  to  the  secretary  of  state, 
dated  24th  February,  1870,  it  is  recommended  "that  as  regards  the 
proper  scale  of  navigation  for  the  main  line  of  water-communication 
frome  Lake  Superior  to  tide-water  there  should  be  one  uniform  size  of 
lock  and  canal  throughout.  The  locks  te  be  270  feet  in  length  of  cham- 
ber between  the  gates,  and  45  feet  in  width,  having  12  feet  of  clear 
draught  over  the  miter-sills ;  the  width  throughout  in  the  prism  of  the 
canal  to  be  of  not  less  than  100  feet,  to  admit  of  vessels  passing  each 
other  with  perfect  ease  in  any  part  of  the  canal."  (General  report  of 
commissioner  of  public  works,  1871,  page  4.) 

The  above  dimensions  will  give  a  capacity  of  1,000  tons  only,  and  are 
precisely  the  same  as  the  proposed  enlargement  of  the  Erie  Canal,-  and 
are  thus  restricted  for  a  specific  purpose,  to  which  we  shall  soon  refer. 
Sir  John  Young,  of  Montreal,  stated  in  a  speech  in  the  national  board 
of  trade  at  Saint  Louis,  and  in  the  commercial  convention  at  Detroit,  in 
December  last,  "that  the  contemplated  enlargement  of  the  Welland  and 
other  Canadian  canals  was  intended  to  be  for  the  passage  of  vessels  of 
1,000  tons  only." 

Hon.  Sir  John  Simpson,  auditor  of  state,  in  a  letter  to  Colonel  Lewis 
A.  Thomas,  dated  Ottawa,  Canada,  December  18,  1872,  stated  that  the 
canal  enlargement  of  the  Dominion  was  for  vessels  of  1,000  tons  only. 

But  it  is  not  necessary  to  go  further  into  these  proofs.  It  is  a  gener- 
ally conceded  fact  that  the  enlargement  of  the  Canada  canals  is  to  be 
restricted  to  the  passage  of  vessels  of  1,000  tons.  This  is  somewhat 
singular,  when  the  navigable  capacity  of  the  lakes  is  18  feet,  suitable 
for  the  passage  of  vessels  of  from  four  to  six  thousand  tons.  Several 
iron  steamers  are  now  building  on  the  lakes  of  more  than  two  thousand 
tons  measurement;  two  or  more  at  Buffalo,  and  one  at  Detroit;  as  also 
that  an  enlargement  to  the  maximum  capacity  will  cost  but  a  compara- 
tively small  additional  amount.  This  is  done  for  the  direct  and  pre- 
meditated purpose  of  drawing — indeed  compelling — the  trade  of  this 
country  to  pass  through  those  channels.  This  purpose  is  expressed  by 
J.  W.  Winn,  esq.,  and  others,  of  Montreal,  in  reply  to  interrogatories  on 
this  subject  issued  by  the  Canadian  canal  commissioners. 

Mr.  Winn  says:  "This  enlargement  (to  1,000  tons)  would  involve  mod- 
erate labor  and  expense,  and  not  serve  to  divert  trade  from  Canadian 
ports  to  Oswego  and  Ogdensburgh,  as  icould  be  the  probable  result  of  a 
greater  depth." — (Canal  commissioners'  report  for  1871,  page  103.) 


42 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


WELLAND  CANAL  CANNOT  BE  ENLARGED  BEYOND  THE  CAPACITY  OF 

ONE  THOUSAND  TONS. 

But  the  Welland  Canal  cannot  be  enlarged  beyond  12  feet  in  depth,  or 
1,000  tons  capacity.  There  are  two  physical  difficulties  in  the  way,  both 
of  which  are  nearly,  if  not  quite,  insurmountable. 

First  To  get  even  that  depth  will  require  the  blasting  out  of  the 
channel  in  front  of  Port  Claiborn,  (on  Lake  Erie,)  beneath  the  waters 
of  the  lake,  of  1,500  feet  in  length,  to  reach  the  mouth  of  the  canal. 
This  rock  is  of  the  "black  rock7'  series,  very  hard,  and  difficult  and 
expensive  to  blast.  This  work  alone  will  cost  a  very  large  sum  of  money, 
more  than  $3,000,000.  To  cut  this  channel  down  to  18  feet  (the  lake 
capacity)  would  involve  an  expense  more  thau  half  sufficient  to  construct 
the  entire  work  on  the  American  side.  In  order  to  avoid  this  almost 
insurmountable  obstacle,  it  is  proposed  to  leave  the  lake  (Erie)  at  Port 
Maitland,  at  the  mouth  of  Grand  River,  and  pass  down  to  the  old  route 
by  the  Grand  River  feeder.  This  would  necessitate  the  extension  of  the 
length  of  the  canal  to  nearly  fifty  miles.  And  even  then  there  is  no 
harbor  at  that  point,  only  a  broad,  open  roadstead,  exposed  to  the  furi- 
ous gales  which  often  sweep  over  that  lake. 

CANNOT  GET  THROUGH  THE  "DEEP  CUT "  AT  ALLENBURG. 

Second.  But  another  and  more  formidable  obstacle  exists  at  the  "deep 
cut "  at  Allenburg,  about  fifteen  miles  north  of  Lake  Erie.  This  "cut" 
is  about  two  miles  long,  and  between  50  and  60  feet  deep.  It  is  com- 
posed of  heavy  joint-clay,  about  65  feet  deep,  underlaid  with  a  stratum  of 
quicksand  of  unknown  depth.  The  bottom  of  the  canal  does  not  now 
extend  quite  through  the  strata,  but  so  nearly  so  that  almost  every  sea- 
son of  navigation  vast  bodies  of  earth  slide  off  from  the  banks,  partially, 
and  sometimes  entirely,  closing  up  the  canal.  The  pressure  of  these 
slides  often  causes  the  bottom  to  bilge  up,  and  thus  effectually  close 
up  the  canal.  These  slides  often  come  down  in  vast  masses,  without 
any  premonition,  especially , in  the  early  spring  and  after  heavy  rains. 
Many  vessels  have  thus  been  seriously  damaged ;  some  lives  reported  lost. 
Should  the  canal  be  deepened  so  as  to  cut  through  the  clay,  the  banks 
would  at  once  slide  in  and  close  it  up  entirely.  The  evil  is  partially 
remedied  now  by  locking  up  out  of  Lake  Erie,  about  10  feet.  This 
necessitates  a  dependence  entirely  upon  Grand  River  for  a  supply  of 
water,  which,  in  dry  seasons  or  low  water,  is  inadequate  to  the  present 
necessities  of  the  canal,  and  would  be  entirely  so,  at  any  ordinary  stage 
of  water,  with  the  proposed  enlargement.  Hence,  to  enlarge  the  Wel- 
land Canal  to  the  proposed  dimensions  (1,000  tons)  appears  to  be  almost 
a  physical  impossibility,  especially  without  the  expenditure  of  vast  sums 
of  money;  and  to  enlarge  the  same  to  18  feet,  the  maximum  navigable 
capacity  of  the  lakes,  would  be  entirely  out  of  the  question. — (Report 
Canadian  caual  commissioners,  1871,  pages  68-70,  and  previous  reports 
on  the  same  subject.) 

PORT  DALHOUSIE,  ON  LAKE  ONTARIO,  INSUFFICIENT  FOR  THE  TRADE 

OF  THE  LAKES. 

Port  Dalhousie,  at  the  outlet  of  Welland  Canal  into  Lake  Ontario,  is 
entirely  inadequate  to  accommodate  the  trade  even  now  existing,  being 
shallow,  and  exposed  to  the  furious  northeast  gales  which  often  prevail 
on  that  lake.   It  can  never  be  made  safe  or  commodious  without  the 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


43 


expenditure  of  large  sains  of  money,  probably  equal  to  the  whole  eost 
of  the  canal  on  the  American  side,  especially  for  the  size,  capacity,  and 
draught  of  vessels  which  may  and  can  navigate  those  great  inland  seas. 

THE  LENGTH  OF  THE  CANAL,  AND  THE  IMPOSSIBILITY  OF  USING  ANY 
OTHER  THAN  CONSECUTIVE  LOCKS  OF  LIGHT  LIFT,  ARE  ENTIRELY 
INADMISSIBLE  AND  INSUFFICIENT  FOR  THE  PRESENT  AND  PROSPECT- 
IVE DEMANDS  AND  NECESSITIES  OF  COMMERCE. 

The  length  of  the  Well  and  Canal  (twenty-nine  and  one-half  miles)  is 
entirely  inadmissible,  and  more  especially  so  when  a  much  shorter  line 
can  be  secured  on  the  American  side,  the  extremest  length  of  which  need 
not  much  exceed  seven  miles.  It  is  an  axiom  in  civil  engineering  at  the 
present  day,  "that  artificial  navigation  should  never  be  substituted  for  a 
natural  route,  as  a  river,  lake,  or  the  ocean.''''  On  the  American  side  the 
entire  navigable  portions  of  the  Niagara  River,  both  above  and  below 
the  Falls,  can  be  used.  Improvements  in  lockage  can  and  are  being 
made  in  canal-navigation.  It  is  proposed  by  some  of  the  most  eminent 
engineers  of  the  age  to  overcome  the  entire  fall  from  Lake  Erie  to  Lake 
Ontario  (316  feet)  by  a  single  lock,  thereby  very  greatly  reducing  the 
expense  of  lockage,  as  also  of  operation.  This  improvement  can  never 
be" adapted  on  the  Welland  Canal,  because  the  descent  is  not  all  concen- 
trated at  a  single  point,  and  only  at  one  place  on  the  American  side,  to 
wit,  at  Lewiston.    We  shall  refer  to  this  subject  again  hereafter. 

NIAGARA  FALLS. 

All  the  prior  discussion  of  this  question  of  continuous  steam -naviga- 
tion to  the  Atlantic  Ocean  is  only  preliminary  to  the  main  question  for 
inquiry,  to  wit,  "  the  Falls  of  Niagara."  This  is  the  most,  indeed  the  only, 
formidable  obstacle  on  the  entire  route  from  the  lakes  to  the  ocean.  If 
this  be  overcome  all  others  will  be  removed,  almost  as  a  matter  of  course. 
It  becomes  important,  therefore,  to  go,  to  a  very  considerable  extent, 
into  the  particulars  of  this  work  and  the  means  necessary  to  be  adopted 
to  overcome  this  formidable  barrier.  Several  routes  are  mentioned,  all 
of  which  have  several  times  been  surveyed  by  the  engineers  of  the  Gov- 
ernment. Each  has  its  zealous  friends  and  advocates,  who  claim  that 
their  proposed  route  is  preferable  to  all  others,  and  clamorously  insist 
that  it  shall  be  adopted.  All,  however,  that  the  friends  and  promoters 
of  the  present  movement  ought  to  insist  upon,  (and  upon  that  they  should 
most  inflexibly  insist,)  is  that  the  shortest,  cheapest,  and  best  route  shall 
be  adopted,  leaving  to  the  engineers  to  ascertain  which  route  possesses 
those  requisites.  If  that  policy  shall  be  adopted,  there  will  then  be  a 
fair  show  that  the  shortest,  cheapest,  and  best  route  will  be  adopted. 

The  following  map  represents  Niagara  River  from  Grand  and  Navy 
Islands,  above  the  Falls,  to  Lake  Ontario,  with  the  short-line  canal  sur- 
veyed by  Captain  Williams,  Colonel  Blunt,  and  others;  also  the  escarp- 
ment or  precipitous  slope  at  Lewiston : 


44  NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


HEIGHT  OF  THE  FALLS. 


From  still  water  in  the  Niagara  River  above  the  Falls  (near  Schlosser 
Island)  to  still  water  in  the  river  below,  the  perpendicular  descent  or 
fall  is  316  feet,  which  must  be  overcome  whatever  route  be  taken ;  so 
that  in  this  particular  no  one  route  has  any  advantage  over  its  rivals.* 


*The  Canadian  engineers  report  that  the  perpendicular  descent  on  the  line  of  the 
Welland  Canal,  from  Port  Claiborne  to  Port  Dalhousie,  is  336  feet.    The  descent  on 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL.  45 

The  shortest  direct  route  will  be  about  seven  miles,  and  will  not  much 
exceed  that  distance.  In  discussing  as  well  as  in  constructing  this  work, 
one  rigid,  inflexible,  and  imperative  axiom  or  rule  should  be  adopted; 
that  is,  that  not  one  mile,  or  one  rod  even,  of  an  artificial  channel  shall  be 
constructed  where  the  natural  channel  of  the  river  will  answer  the  same 
purpose. 


The  above  cut  gives  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  foot  of  Lake  Erie,  Niag- 
ara River,  Lake  Ontario,  and  tbe  short-line  canal  surveyed  by  Captain 
Williams  in  1S35,  Colonel  Blunt  in  1SG7,  and  others.  This  route  is 
found  to  be  about  7  miles;  Colonel  Blunt  states  it  at  7.05  miles;  Cap- 
tain Williams  and  others  make  it  about  the  same. 

MEANS  EMPLOYED  TO  OVERCOME  THE  FALLS. 

The  means  employed  to  overcome  the  falls  ought,  and  no  doubt  will, 
have  a  very  great  influence  in  locating  the  route.  Many  ingenious  plans 
have  been  suggested  to  supersede  the  ordinary  u  combination  locks" 
which  have  heretofore  been  adopted,  both  in  this  country  and  in  Europe, 
none  of  which  shall  we  discuss  or  refer  to  except  to  the  single-lock  sys- 
tem, and  to  that  only  briefly.  In  saying  this  we  do  not  wish  to  be 
understood  as  saying,  or  even  intimating,  that  no  others  have  merits, 
only  that  we  have  not  space  to  notice,  much  less  discuss  them. 

THE  SINGLE  LOCK. 

This  plan  is  to  seek  out  an  eligible  location  on  the  plane  above  Lewis- 
ton,  1,000  (or  so)  feet  from  or  south  of  the  brow  of  the  bluff  or  niouu- 


the  Eighteen-mile  Creek  (Lockport)  route  is  320  feet.  Both  of  these  statements  are 
probably  correct.  On  tbe  Welland  Canal  this  undoubtedly  includes  tbe  lockage  up 
out  of  Lake  Erie.  This  lockage  up,  and  then  down  again,  is  a  most  serious  obstacle  in 
the  practicability  of  that  route.  This  also  precludes  the  possibility  of  using  any  other 
than  the  old  "combination  locks"  to  overcome  the  fall.  There  is  no  point  along  that 
route  where  the  whole  descent  is  gathered  into  one  point,  as  is  the  case  on  the  American 
side. 


46 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


tain,  and  sink  clown  to  the  requisite  depth  below  the  surface  of  the 
water  in  the  Lower  Niagara,  then  ••drift"  or  l<  tnnnel  out'7  to  the  river. 
This  will  require  a  chamber  or  prism  to  be  sunk  about  350  feet  deep 
from  the  surface  of  the  ground  above.  This  prism  is  to  be  sufficiently 
large  to  allow  of  the  passage  of  six  or  more  lake-steamers,  or  other  craft, 
at  the  same  time.  This  prism  may  be  four  or  more  hundred  feet  long 
by  two  or  more  hundred  feet  wide.  The  tunnel  thence  out  to  the  river 
below  is  to  be  50  feet  wide  and  150  feet  high,  or  as  much  less  as  will 
allow  of  the  passage  of  the  largest  masted  vessels.  The  mouth  of  the 
tunnel  is  to  be  closed  by  a  steel  gate  50  feet  wide  by  150  long,  (convex 
toward  the  pressure  of  the  water,)  to  be  fitted  into  an  iron  frame,  and 
to  be  adjusted  by  weights,  (like  a  window-sash,)  so  that  it  can  be  made 
to  slide  up  and  down  by  a  power  just  sufficient  to  overcome  the  friction 
of  the  rollers  over  which  the  suspending  ropes  or  cables  pass.  When 
the  gate  is  closed  and  the  chamber  filled,  the  water  would  force  it  against 
all  its  bearings  with  a  resultant  force  (or  full  pressure)  of  only  58,708 
tons,  thus  tending  to  tighten  the  gate  equally  against  all  its  bearings. 
It  is  claimed  by  its  friends  that  a  gate  constructed  of  steel  plates  prop- 
erly put  together,  from  two  to  six  inches  thick,  with  the  convexity 
against  the  water,  will  withstand  all  the  pressure  of  that  immense  col- 
umn of  water. 

CHAMBER,  HOW  FILLED. 

To  fill  this  chamber  it  is  proposed  to  place  cast-iron  tubes  two  feet 
in  diameter  (50  or  more)  around  the  face  of  the  chamber  at  the 
head  gate,  reaching  down  the  breast  wall  and  along  the  bottom  of  .the 
chamber.  In  the  horizontal  parts  of  these  tubes  there  are  to  be  orifices, 
allowing  several  hundred  (or  thousard)  jets  of  water  to  issue  upward, 
thus  lifting  the  vessels  by  their  upward  force,  distributed  and  applied 
equally  all  over  the  bottom  of  the  prism  or  lock,  to  the  upper  level., 
The  excellence  of  this  arrangement  is  that  the  upward  lift  is  steady  and 
uniform,  without  any  surging  or  violent  commotion  always  resulting 
from  letting  in  the  water  from  horizontal  or  lateral  sluices.  By  similar 
arrangements  the  waters  are  discharged  from  the  chamber.  The  filling 
and  emptying  the  lock  through  these  tubes  is  regulated  and  controlled 
by  a  system  of  rotatory  valves. 

ANOTHER    PLAN    IS    PROPOSED,   DISPENSING    ENTIRELY    WITH  THE 
TUBES  AND  THEIR  COMPLICATED  MACHINERY. 

This  plan  is  thus  arranged:  At  a  proper  distance  ahead  of  the  "head 
gate"  of  the  lock  sink  a  shaft  in  the  prism  of  the  canal,  of  suitable 
dimensions — 10,  20,  or  more  feet  in  diameter — to  the  level  of  the  bottom 
of  the  prism  or  lock;  thence  run  a  tuuuel  into  the  latter.  The  mouth 
of  this  tunnel  is  closed  by  an  irou  (or  steel)  gate,  which  is  opened  or 
shut  similar  to  the  gate  of  a  saw  or  other  mill  flume.  The  bottom  of  the 
prism,  at  the  proper  distance  below  the  requisite  draught  or  depth  of 
water,  is  floored  over  with  timbers  or  planking  of  sufficient  strength  to 
resist  the  upward  pressure  of  water.  This  floor,  or  "  diaphragm,"  is 
"  perforated"  with  the  requisite  number  of  orifices,  through  which  the 
water  issues  upward  as  by  the  other  arrangement.  The  space  between 
this  floor  and  the  bottom  of  the  prism  should  be  ten  or  more  feet,  so  as 
to  obviate  or  neutralize  the  lateral  or  surging  motion  of  the  water  as  it 
issues  from  the  tunnel.  This  plan  will  dispense  entirely  with  all  the 
complicated  machinery  of  the  other  arrangement,  to  which  many  scien- 
tific men  object  as  u  too  complicated."   By  this  arrangement  it  is  claimed 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


47 


that  the  lock  can  be  filled  iu  about  30  and  emptied  in  20  minutes.  That 
is,  that  six  lake-steamers,  or  other  vessels,  can  be  passed  up  or  down  in 
those  periods  of  time.  Eight,  or  at  most  ten,  men  will  be  all  that  will 
be  required  to  operate  the  lock,  while  on  the  ordinary  plan  of  combina- 
tion locks,  such  as  are  used  on  the  Erie  and  other  canals,  two  hundred 
men  will  be  required  to  pass  one  of  those  vessels,  and  from  twelve  to 
twenty- four  hours  consumed  in  the  passage. 

MATERIAL  AND  FACILITIES  FOE  CONSTRUCTION. 

This  locality  favors  the  construction  of  such  a  work  as  is  here  proposed. 
There  is  an  exhaustless  supply  of  superior  building-stone  close  at 
hand.  A  superior  quality  of  cement  may  be  delivered  iu  bulk  by  rail, 
at  a  cheap  rate,  from  factories  in  the  vicinity.  Ships  from  any  part  of 
the  world  may  deliver  freight  within  a  very  short  distance.  There  is 
also  now,  and  will  shortly  be,  greater  facilities  by  railway,  and  Niagara 
County  is  a  rich  agricultural  region  whence  food  may  be  cheaply  and 
unfailingly  supplied. 

THIS  PLAX  APPEOVED  BY  MANY  EMINENT  ENGINEERS. 

This  plan  has  received  the  sanction  of  several  eminent  engineers  of 
long  experience  and  national  reputation.  Among'others  General  T.  J. 
Cram,  an  engineer  of  more  than  forty  years*  experience  in  the  Govern- 
ment service,  says  of  it  in  a  letter  dated  June  16,  1866:  "There  are 
no  engineering  difficulties  in  the  way.'1  He  further  says,  "that  this  steel 
gate  of  50  feet  in  width  and  150  feet  in  length  can  undoubtedly  be  con- 
structed with  as  much  nicety  and  sufficient  strength,  and  be  made  to 
move  in  the  grooves  with  ease  and  more  perfect  tightness  than  any  ordi- 
nary wooden  gate.'1'' 

Colonel  William  McAlpine,  who  has  been  a  United  States  engineer 
stationed  at  the  Brooklyn  navy-yard  for  many  years,  and  who  con- 
structed the  United  States  dry-dock  at  that  place,  in  a  letter  dated  Octo- 
ber 3,  1866,  says  of  this  plan : 

There  are  no  impossible  engineering  difficulties  in  carrying  out  this  plan.  Gates  of 
the  size  proposed  can  be  made  without  difficulty.  I  made  a  pair  of  wronght-iron  gates 
opening  a  space  of  75  feet  in  width  and  36  feet  high,  which  weighed  75  tons.  They 
were  the  first  wrought-iron  lock-gates  ever  built.  Tliey  are  in  use  at  the  United  States 
dry-dock  at  Brooklyn,  aud  have  answered  exceedingly  well;  cheaper  and  stronger  than 
wood. 

Mr.  E.  L.  Cheesbrough,  the  engineer  and  constructor  of  the  Chicago 
water-works,  in  a  letter  dated  October  16,  1866,  says:  "You  request  me 
to  state  such  objections  as  might  occur  to  me  to  the  truly  bold  yet  simple 
plan  of  constructing  and  operating  a  ship-canal  around  the  Falls  of 
Niagara.-  I  have  thought  of  it  a  good  deal."'  He  then  goes  on,  in  sub- 
stance, to  say :  UI  have  submitted  the  plan  to  several  eminent  engineers, 
and,  among  others,  Mr.  Win.  Gooding,  member  of  the  board  of  public 
works  at  Chicago  aud  engineer  on  the  deepening  of  the  Illinois  and 
Michigan  Canal,  and  we  all  think  very  highly  of  the  proposition,  and 
believe  it  will  prove  to  be  a  success." 

THIS  INVENTION  REMOVES  ENTIRELY  THE  FORMIDABLE  CHARACTER 

OF  THIS  BARRIER. 

If  the  expectations  of  its  friends  can  be  realized,  it  removes  entirely 
the  formidable  character  of  this  rocky  barrier  to  continuous  navigation 
from  the  upper  to  the  lower  lakes.    So  also,  if  this  can  be  done,  this 


48 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


Lewiston  route  is  the  only  one  where  it  can  be  successfully  applied  and 
used,  because  the  only  route  where  the  whole  descent  can  at  once  be 
overcome,  as  also  the  only  place  where  the  space  between  the  top  of  the 
tunnel  and  the  surface  of  the  ground  will  allow  of  the  hoisting  up  of  the 
gate  entirely  above  the  tunnel.  The  top  or  surface  of  the  ground  will 
be  at  least  160  or  170  feet  above  the  top  or  crown  of  the  tunnel. 

ORDINARY  COMBINATION-LOCKS. 

The  mode  of  overcoming  this  barrier  by  ordinary  combination-locks, 
such  as  are  used  on  the  Erie  and  other  canals,  both  in  this  country  and 
in  Europe,  is  far  better  described  by  Colonel  Blunt  in  his  surveys  of  the 
Niagara  Falls  in  1867,  and  other  eminent  engineers  who  have  reported 
upon  that  subject,  than  anything  we  can  say.  We  can  only  say  this 
much  as  to  the  two  plans:  if  the  single  lock,  upon  a  rigid  test,  shall 
fail,  then  the  only  alternative  will  be  to  fall  back  upon  the  old  system 
of  combination  locks.  The-  proposed  a  marine  railway,"  and  other  like 
plans,  we  do  not  propose  to  discuss,  believing  them  all  to  be  fatally  de- 
ficient in  very  many  of  their  most  important  and  essential  details. 

SHORTEST  ROUTE. 

One  strong  recommendation  of  this  Lewiston  route  is  that,  it  being 
the  shortest  possible,  it  allows,  indeed  requires,  the  whole  navigable 
length  of  the  Niagara  River,  both  above  and  below  the  falls,  to  be  used, 
thus  obviating  the  detentions  and  delays  necessarily  incident  and  inevi- 
table on  long  routes,  as  the  Welland  Canal  as  now,  or  with  its  proposed 
r        extension,  constructed. 

LOWER  NIAGARA  RIVER  THE  BEST  HARBOR  ON  THE  LAKES. 

This  route  has  one  other  advantage  not  possessed  by  any  other.  It 
debouches  into  one  of  the  best  and  safest  harbors  on  the  entire  chain  of 
lakes.  The  lower  Niagara  River  (which  is  about  seven  miles  long  to  Lake 
Ontario)  has  in  all  its  parts  a  depth  of  at  least  30  feet  of  water,  with 
safe  and  easy  shores,  the  water  going  down  20  and  30  feet  within  30  feet 
of  its  banks;  is  entirely  land-locked,  and  secured  from  all  winds  and 
gales,  and  of  safe  access  in  all  states  of  the  winds  and  weather ;  besides, 
it  will  never  require  the  expenditure  of  one  dollar  for  "  breakwaters," 
piers,  docks,  or  works  of  any  description  whatever.  It  is  in  fact  the 
only  natural  harbor  of  unlimited  capacity  on  the  American  side  of  Lake 
Ontario — a  distance  of  nearly  two  hundred  miles — where  vessels  can 
always  take  refuge  and  find  a  safe  retreat  in  the  most  violent  storms  and 
tempests,  which  frequently  prevail  on  that  lake. 

THIS  WORK  PUBLIC  AND  NATIONAL  IN  CHARACTER. 

This  obstruction  has  always  been  regarded  as  of  a  national  character, 
being  on  a  public  national  thoroughfare.  It  will  not  be  necessary  to  cite 
authorities  to  prove  this  assumption ;  hence  the  expense  of  removing 
the  same  should  be  incurred  by  the  General  Government.  And  more 
especially  should  that  be  so  when  it  is  remembered  that  it  is  but  one  of 
a  series  of  obstacles  to  be  overcome  iu  opening  up  this  steam-navigation 
route  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean ;  all  others  of  which  must  be  removed 
by  private  capital,  at  least  by  means  other  than  those  of  the  United 
States.    That  being  the  case,  the  friends  of  this  measure  claim  (we  think 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


49 


with  a  good  deal  of  reason)  that  Congress  shall  furnish  the  funds  for 
this  portion  of  the  proposed  water- route  from  the  lakes  to  the  ocean.  If 
that  proposition  be  conceded,  then  arises  a  most  important  interroga- 
tory, to  wit : 

HOW  SHALL  THAT  EE  DONE? 

Shall  Congress  make  a  money  appropriation  adequate  to  the  construc- 
tion of  this  work,  independent  of  all  other  considerations !  It  thus  be- 
coming, like  any  other  public  improvement  of  this  character  and  magni- 
tude, as  the  improvements  on  the  rapids  of  the  Mississippi,  at  "  Hell 
Gate"  in  Xew  York  harbor,  and  other  like  works,  free  and  open  to  the 
use  of  the  public  generally.  The  commerce  between  Lakes  Erie  and 
Ontario  would  thus  be  entirely  relieved  from  all  exactions  and  tolls,  ex- 
cept so  much  as  might  be  necessary  to  keep  the  works  in  repair.  This 
arrangement  would  at  once  create  such  a  competition  between  the  canal 
and  railroad  systems  of  Buffalo  and  Oswego,  and  other  points  on  Lake 
Ontario,  as  materially  to  weaken,  if  not  destroy,  the  enormous  monopo- 
lies which  the  former  place  has  succeeded  in  fastening  upon  the  com- 
merce of  the  country,  and  especially  upon  that  of  the  agricultural  States 
of  the  West. 

NUMBER  OF  VESSELS  AND  TONNAGE  OE  THE  LAKES. 

By  the  records  of  the  custom-houses  of  Boston,  New  York,  Philadel- 
phia, Baltimore,  New  Orleans,  San  Francisco,  and  Chicago,  it  appears 
that  a  larger  number  of  vessels  entered  the  single  port  of  Chicago  dur- 
ing eight  months  of  navigation  in  1870  than  entered  all  those  six  great 
ocean  ports  during  the  same  period.    Thus  stands  the  record  : 

Eutered  at  Chicago  daring  eight  months  of  navigation   12,  546 

Entered  at  the  other  ports  during  the  same  time   12,259 

Excess  entering  Chicago   2S7 


We  think  it  will  be  safe  to  assume  that  twice  that  number  of  vessels 
entered  and  delivered  cargoes  during  that  year  in  all  the  other  ports  of 
the  Lakes,  including  Lake  Ontario.  There  will  then  have  entered  and 
delivered  cargoes  in  all  the  ports  of  the  great  lakes  of  the  Northwest, 
37,038  vessels.  The  average  size  of  the  vessels  owned  in  Chicago  is 
214  J  tons.  Those  coming  from  the  lower  lakes  are  much  larger,  averag- 
ing 350  tons  each.  The  average  of  all  is  about  250  tons,  which  will  be 
about  two-thirds  the  average  tonnage  of  the  sea-going  vessels  entering 
those  other  six  ports.  Suppose,  however,  that  the  sea  going  vessels 
average  500  tons,  which  will  be  a  very  liberal  allowance,  there  was 
then  delivered  during  the  eight  months  of  navigation,  at  all  the  lake 
ports,  9,409,500  tons  of  freight;  and  at  all  those  other  six  ports,  0,1:29,500 
tons.  It  is  not  pretended  that  these  statements  are  strictly  accurate, 
but  they  afford  data  and  statistics  whereby  we  may  arrive  at  a  pretty 
correct  estimate  and  appreciation  of  the  enormous  amount  and  value  of 
the  commerce  now  floating  upon  the  great  lakes  of  the  Northwest. 

TWO-THIRDS,  OR  G,000,000  TONS  OF  THIS  IS  ,k  THROUGH  FREIGHT." 

At  least  two-thirds  of  this  is  "through  freight;''  that  is,  agricultural 
products  going  from  the  West  to  Eastern  or  European  markets,  or 
merchandise  coming  from  thence  to  the  West.    It  is  an  axiom  in  com- 
mercial transactions,  that  vessels  loaded  with  this  "  through  freight" 
H.  Mis.  22  1 


50 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


will  proceed  to  the  most  extreme  point  of  navigation  either  way.  Ship- 
pers will  demand  this  of  them,  because  the  charges  of  lake-transporta- 
tion are  not  more  than  one-sixth  of  that  for  railroad  carriage.  Hence  if 
they  could  pass  from  Lake  Erie  into  Lake  Ontario,  or  vice  versa, 
without  transshipment  of  cargo,  they  would  do  so — indeed  they  would  be 
compelled  to  that  course  by  their  patrons,  the  shippers,  or  get  no 
"business. 

Hence  the  extremes  of  lake  navigation  would  be  the  foot  of  Lake 
Ontario  on  the  east  and  the  heads  of  Lakes  Michigan  and  Superior  ou 
the  west.  This  6,000,000  tons  of  through  freight,"  (approximating  in 
magnitude  to  that  entering  the  harbor  of  New  York,)  now  floating  on 
these  lakes,  would  reach  those  extreme  points,  if  the  vessels  freighted 
therewith  could  pass  freely  and  rapidly  between  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario. 
If,  therefore,  the  interest  and  necessities  of  commerce  demand  of  Con- 
gress the  removal  of  those  obstructions  to  navigation  existing  at  "  Hell 
Gate,v  (which  we  most  readily  concede,)  how  much  more  the  speedy  re- 
moval of  that  formidable  obstruction  existing  at  Xiagara  Falls !  Because 
it  has  not  that  facility,  that  6,000,000  tons,  as  also  three  times  that 
amount  carried  by  the  railroad  and  other  means  of  transportation,  is 
taxed  at  least  two  dollars  per  ton  extra  in  its  transit  between  the  West 
and  East.  This  embargo  upon  transportation  is  the  cause,  and  probably 
the  sole  cause,  of  the  low  prices  for  agricultural  products  in  the  West  and 
the  extreme  high  prices  of  provisions  in  the  East.  The  excessive  charges 
for  transportation  between  the  producer  and  consumer  have  very  nearly 
eaten  up  the  staples  of  life.  Hence  also  the  depression  of  the  manufac- 
turing districts  in  the  East,  and  the  exorbitant  prices  for  clothing,  boots, 
shoes,  groceries,  &c,  indeed  all  the  necessaries  of  life  in  the  West.  This 
is  fully  comprehended  in  both  sections — in  the  West  by  the  unanimous 
demand  of  the  people  through  their  respective  legislatures,  by  popular 
assemblies,  conventions.  &c,  in  all  the  great  agricultural  States  of  that 
section,  as  heretofore  set  forth,  for  the  speedy  removal  of  that  obstruc- 
tion to  navigation  existing  at  Niagara  Falls;  in  the  East,  by  the  reso- 
lutions of  popular  assemblies  of  mechanics,  artisans,  and  laborers,  and 
the  reports  of  commercial  and  other  associations,  as  also  by  the  action 
of  many  of  their  State  legislatures.  At  an  immense  meeting  of  the  car- 
penters and  bricklayers  of  New  York  City,  held  in  May  last,  the  follow- 
ing resolution,  among  others,  was  unanimously  adopted  : 

Besoh-fd,  That  the  enormous  charges  exacted  by  railroads  and  other  transportation 
companies,  between  the  food-producing  Srates  of  the  West  and  the  Atlantic  sea-board, 
so  enhance  the  prices,  not  only  of  provisions,  but  also  of  every  description  of  manufac- 
tures and  other  necessaries  of  life,  that  the  present  wages  paid  to  mechanics  and 
laborers  in  our  respective  trades  and  business  in  this  city  are  not  adequate  with  the 
most  rigid  economy  to  the  support  of  the  employes  in  those  trades  and  their  families. 

In  the  report  to  the  Xew  England  Shoe  and  Leather  Association,  of 
Boston,  by  a  committee  appointed  by  that  organization  to  investigate 
;-the  present  working  ot  the  different  railroad  and  transportation  lines, 
as  far  as  relates  to  the  transportation  of  shoes,  leather,  and  food,"  at  a 
meeting  of  said  association  held  on  the  Friday  subsequent  to  the 
"  great  fire,"  the  committee  say : 

Manufacturing  success  depends  not  alone  on  the  cheap  transportation  of  its  own 
products.  It  must  also  have  cheap  labor,  and  cheap  food  is  essential  to  cheap  labor. 
Food  will  be  cheap  when  transportation  is  easy  and  at  low  cost.  The  western  farmer 
now  has  to  give  often  two  and  even  three  bushels  of  wheat  to  get  one  to  market,  or, 
in  other  words,  the  New  England  operative  has  to  pay  three  or  four  times  as  much  for 
his  wheat  as  the  man  gets  who  raises  it. 

Hence,  to  reverse  the  rule,  the  farmer  in  the  West,  who  raises  the 
wheat,  beef,  pork,  &c.  which  the  eastern  manufacturer  consumes,  at 


NIAGARA  .SHIP-CANAL. 


51 


such  enormous  charges  over  the  first  cost,  has  to  pay  for  the  boots, 
shoes,  coats,  pants,  shirts,  blankets,  and  other  articles  of  manufacture, 
which  himself  and  his  family  must  have  or  perish  in  the  bleak  winters 
of  their  prairie  home,  three,  four,  and  often  six  times  as  much  as 
the  manufacturer  gets  who  makes  them.  Who  pockets  this  enormous 
difference  between  the  first  cost  of  production  of  these  respective  com- 
modities and  the  consumer  !  We  answer,  the  common  carrier  and  the 
middle-men,  who  take  advantage  of  the  obstructions  to  navigation  and 
blockades  of  transportation  between  the  two  sections  and  are  deter- 
mined to  keep  them  so.  In  this  connection  perhaps  the  following  item 
of  information,  taken  from  the  daily  Des  Moines  (Iowa)  Register,  pub- 
lished at  the  capital  of  ithat  State,  of  10th  November  last,  may  not  be 
altogether  uninteresting : 

The  Ogden  House,  of  Council  Bluffs,  is  usiii£  corn  as  a  common  article  of  fuel  in  all 
the  rooms  of  their  extensive  establishment,  finding  it  altogether  cheaper  and  more 
economical  than  either  wood  or  coal,  although  the  price  of  neither  is  extravagant — 
indeed  is  very  moderate. 

And  perhaps  this  other  article,  taken  from  a  paper  published  in  the 
Missouri  Valley,  of  about  the  same  date,  may  not  also  be  altogether 
without  interest  to  the  legislator  at  Washington,  any  more  than  to  the 
manufacturer  of  the  East : 

We  are  informed,  which  is  no  doubt  true,  that  the  farmers  in  all  the  prairie  country 
of  this  valley  are  burning  their  corn  for  fuel,  finding  it  altogether  cheaper  and  more 
economical  than  wood  or  coal,  although  the  latter,  of  excellent  quality,  can  be  ob- 
tained at  any  of  the  railroad  stations  at  from  S3  to  $3.50  per  ton,  and  wood  will  not 
exceed  S4  per  cord. 

Now.  this  may  appear  somewhat  iucredible,  but  will  not  when  we  con- 
sider three  facts:  first,  those  farmers  have  not  the  money  to  purchase 
either  wood  or  coal ;  second,  they  cannot  exchange  their  corn  for  either; 
third,  corn  is  of  no  value  in  the  Missouri  Valley  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  farm. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  and  others  equally  authentic  and  well  under- 
stood in  all  parts  and  portions  of  the  country,  we  would,  in  behalf  of 
the  people  of  the  whole  country,  and  more  especially  of  all  those  por- 
tions whose  interests  and  prosperity  depend  immediately  and  directly 
upon  this  question  of  u cheap  transportation,"  most  respectfully,  but 
earnestly, call  upon  Congress  to  adopt  immediate  and  efficient  measures 
to  secure  the  speedy  construction  of  the  ship-canal  around  the  Falls  of 
Niagara,  on  the  American  side  thereof. 

continuous  stea^i  navigation  from  the  xississippi  to  the 

atlantic  ocean. 

The  programme  of  the  friends  of  this  enterprise  is  to  open  up  con- 
tinuous steam  navigation  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 
This  will  necessitate  a  brief  allusion  to  the  several  parts  of  the  plan. 
Hence  we  shall  briefly  describe  the  several  routes  from  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi  to  Lake  Michigan. 

BY  THE  ILLINOIS  RIVER. 

First.  From  Chicago  by  way  of  the  Illinois  River.  This  route  is  of 
vast  importance  to  the  middle  and  lower  valley  of  the  Mississippi  The 
people  of  Chicago  have  demonstrated  that  the  waters  of  Lake  Michigan 
can  be  diverted  into  that  channel  to  an  unlimited  amount,  so  as  at  all 
times  to  afford  continuous  navigation  between  the  lake  and  the  Lower 


52 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


Mississippi.  This  is  an  immense  achievement,  and  should  be  promptly 
followed  up  to  its  legitimate  results,  to  wit,  continuous  steam  naviga- 
tion in  that  direction. 

WISCONSIN  AND  FOX  RIVER  ROUTE. 

Another  route  of  far  greater  importance  to  the  whole  Upper  Missis- 
sippi Valley  is  by  the  way  of  the  Wisconsin  and  Fox  Rivers  to  Lake 
Michigan  at  Green  Bay.  From  the  earliest  French  colonial  period  this 
route  has  always  been  regarded  and  used  as  "  a  public  navigable  highway." 
Since  the  improvements  on  the  Lower  Fox,  steamers  of  250  tons  bur- 
den can  and  do  every  year,  in  flush  stages  of  water,  freely  pass  and 
repass  between  the  Mississippi  River  and  Lake  Michigan.  The  Gov- 
ernment has  for  several  years  been  engaged  in  surveying  this  route,  and 
quite  recently  commenced  work  thereon,  with  a  view  of  opening  it  up 
to  the  commerce  of  the  country.  The  prospect  now  is  that  within  the 
next  few  years  the  entire  work  will  be  completed,  so  that  vessels  draw- 
ing five  feet  of  water  can  pass  from  the  Mississippi  to  Lake  Michigan 
with  as  much  facility  and  rapidity  as  to  Saint  Paul  or  Saint  Louis. 

LAKE  SUPERIOR  ROUTE. 

Another  principal  route  is  by  the  way  of  Lake  Superior.  This  is  of 
equal  importance  as  the  others  to  all  that  northwestern  portion  of  the 
country,  and  more  especially  that  portion  now  being  opened  up  by  the 
Xorth  Pacific  Railroad.  This  route  will  require  considerable  improve- 
ment on  the  Saint  Mary's  Canal  and  River,  which  the  Government  is 
now  doing. 

ALL  THESE  ROUTES  NATIONAL  IN  CHARACTER. 

All  these  routes  are  of  great  national  importance,  and  ought  to  receive 
the  continued  attention  of  the  general  Government  until  they  are  opened 
up  to  their  full  capacity  for  the  transportation  of  the  country.  These 
routes  are  absolutely  essential  to  carry  out  the  policy  of  "  cheap  trans- 
portation" attempted  to  be  inaugurated  by  this  movement  to  secure  con- 
tinuous steam  navigation  from  the  grain-fields  of  the  West  to  the  At- 
lantic Ocean. 

RAPIDS  OF  THE  SAINT  LAWRENCE. 

The  hypothesis  that,  in  case  Congress  makes  an  appropriation  for  the 
construction  of  the  works  at  Niagara  Falls,  private  enterpiise  and  capital 
will  thus  be  stimulated  and  encouraged  to  open  up  all  other  portions  of 
the  route  to  the  Atlantic  sea-board,  renders  it  necessary  to  describe  briefly 
those  other  obstructions.  The  first  of  these  are  the  rapids  of  the  Saint 
Lawrence,  of  which  there  are  seven,  to  wit,  Galop's,  Rapid  Plat,Farraud's 
Point,  Cornwall,  Beauharnois,  and  Lachine.  There  are  no  obstructions 
on  the  route  from  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River  to  the  head  of  the 
Cornwall  Rapids  on  the  Saint  Lawrence.  The  main  rapids  commence  at 
the  head  of  Galop's,  in  the  order  set  forth  in  the  following  tables.  These 
rapids  have  been  improved  by  the  Canadian  government  to  a  capacity 
of  about  GOO  tons.  Steamers,  however,  can  and  do  readily  pass  over 
the  three  first  of  the  series,  both  ascending  as  well  as  descending  the 
river,  a  distance  of  about  thirty-three  miles.  This  virtually  makes  about 
two  hundred  and  sixty  miles  of  navigable  water  above  the  impassable 
rapids.  To  this  distance  must  be  added  Lake  Saint  Francis,  thirty-two 
and  three-fourths  miles,  and  Saint  Louis  Lake,  fifteen  and  one-quarter 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


53 


miles,  and  other  lesser  sheets  of  smooth  water,  making-  in  all  about  three 
hundred  and  twenty-seven  out  of  three  hundred  and  sixty-eight  and  one- 
halt' miles  from  the  month  of  the  Niagara  River  to  Montreal  which  will 
need  no  improvement  whatever,  leaving  about  forty-one  miles  of  impas- 
sable rapids  :  first,  the  Cornwall  Rapids,  eleven  and  one-half  miles  long 
and  48  feet  fall:  second,  Beauharnois  Rapids,  eleven  and  one-half  miles 
long  and  S2A-  feet  fall;  third,  the  Lachine  Rapids,  eight  and  one-half 
miles  long  and  feet  fall,  making  17oJ  feet  of  impassable  rapids  out 
of  223  feet  fall  from  Lake  Ontario  to  Montreal.  The  remainder  of  the 
descent,  to  wit.  about  torty-eight  feet,  is  distributed  through  the  natural 
fall  of  the  river,  the  current  nowhere  exceeding  five  miles  an  hour,  and 
that  only  on  the  first-named  rapids,  to  wit.  Galop's.  Rapid  Plat,  and 
Farrand's  Point.  On  all  other  portions  of  the  river  above  tide-water, 
at  Three  Rivers,  ninety  miles  below  Montreal,  the  average  velocity  is 
only  about  two  and  one-half  miles  the  hour. 


Length  and  dimensions  of  Saint  Lau  rence  canals,  distance  between  the  rapids,  and  whole  dis- 
tance from  mouth  of  Xiagara  River  to  Montrtal,  taktn  from  the  official  report  of  the  Cana- 
dian Canal  Commissioner-.  1-71. 


—  ■ 

CD 

■_  X 

Size  of  lock. 

-  — 

_ 

i 

MOn. 

Miles. 

Feet. 

Feet. 

r,. 

Month  of  ^  ianara  to  foot  of  Lake  Ontario  

Foot  of  Lake  Ontario  to  Galop  Rapids  

if 

954 

•200  bv  45  by  10 

4 

•2 

Galop  Rapids  to  Rapids  Plat   '  

4 

•2->2; 

4 

•200  bV  45  bv  10 

4 

1 

Rapids  Plat  to  Farrand's  Point  

10£ 

i 

•274 

•* 

•200  bv  45  b'v  10 

si 

1 

Farrand's  Point  to  Cornwall  

in 

5XH 

48 

•200  bv  45  bv  10 

7 

7 

3?| 

m 

334* 

•200  bV  45  bv  10 

H 

9 

Beauharnois  to  Lachine  

15± 

36i£ 

•200  bv  45  bv  10 

9 

5 

Total  

314- 

411 

3GB2 

i 

25 

By  improvements  introduced  into  canal-construction  since  the  build- 
ing of  the  Saint  Lawrence  canals,  each  of  those  rapids  can  be  overcome 
by  a  single  lock,  which  will  very  materially  facilitate  the  navigation  of 
that  portion  of  the  Saint  Lawrence  Biver  from  head  of  Cornwall  Rapids 
to  Montreal. 


OCEAX-XAVIGATIOX  AT  MONTREAL. 

At  Montreal  the  route  will  reach  ocean-navigation  down  the  river  and 
gulf  of  Sahit  Lawrence  of  20  feet  draught,  which  can  be  increased  readily 
and  cheaply  to  26  or  27,  and  even  30  feet,  and  at  Three  Rivers,  about 
ninety  miles  below  that  place,  of  unlimited  capacity.  Tide-water  and  full 
ocean-navigation  comes  up  to  the  latter  point.  By  this  route  the  distance 
to  Liverpool  is  about  eight  hundred  miles  less  than  by  the  Erie  Canal 
and  New  York  City,  with  an  equal  period  of  navigation,  and  the  risks 
and  perils  of  navigation  no  greater,  and  insurance  no  higher,  than 
from  the  latter  port.  Thus  will  the  West  secure  ocean-navigation  to 
Europe  on  the  shortest  possible  route,  and  of  unlimited  capacity,  for 
her  agricultural  products.  Steamers  of  more  than  ten  times  the  carrying- 
capacity  of  the  heaviest  freight  trains  can  pass  over  it  at  an  equal  rate 
of  speed,  and  with  less  than  a  sixth  the  charge  for  transportation  upon 
her  cargo.  All  vessels,  and  especially  steamers,  leaving  Xew  York  for 
Liverpool,  must  come  upon  the  track  of  the  Saint  Lawrence  vessels  in 
crossing  the  ocean. 


54 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CAXAL. 


FR03I  THE  SAINT  LAWRENCE,  AT  OR  NEAR  MONTREAL,  UP  INTO  LAKE 

CHAMPLAIN. 

The  next  obstruction  on  the  route  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean  at  Xew  York 
City,  the  point  to  which  the  friends  of  this  movement  aim,  and  at  which 
they  are  determined  to  arrive,  is  from  the  Saint  Lawrence,  at  or  near 
Montreal,  ap  into  Lake  Champiaiu.  The  elevation  of  the  lake  above  the 
river  at  that  point  is  75  feet.  •  To  overcome  this  obstruction  several  routes 
have  been  suggested  ami  examined,  all  of  which  are  not  only  practicable, 
but  eminently  feasible. 

First.  To  the  mouth  of  the  Sorel  River,  about  fifty  miles  below  Mon- 
treal, thence  up  that  river  iuto  the  lake.  This  is  about  one  hundred 
miles  farther  than  by  a  direct  route.  The  Canadian  government  has 
improved  the  rapids  on  this  river  by  locks,  dams,  &c,  for  boats  of  about 
250  tons  capacity.  The  extra  distance,  however,  is  a  very  serious,  if 
not  insuperable,  objection  to  this  route. 

Second.  The  Caughnawaga  route,  commencing  at  the  head  of  the 
Lachine  Rapids,  on  the  River  Saiut  Lawrence,  about  ten  miles  above 
Montreal,  running  thence  in  an  easterly  direction  to  the  village  of  Saiut 
John,  on  the  Sorel  River  and  at  the  head  of  the  Chamblee  Rapids. 
This  will  require  only  25  feet  of  lockage  to  reach  Lake  Champiaiu  from 
the  Saint  Lawrence  at  the  head  of  the  Lachine  Rapids.  The  canal 
would  be  thirty  and  one-half  miles  long.  Were  the  trade  of  New  Eng- 
land and  Xew  York,  with  the  West,  passing  through  Lake  Champiaiu 
alone  to  be  considered,  this  route  would  be  preferable  to  all  others ; 
indeed,  the  only  route  deserving  any  consideration  whatever,  because  it 
would  save  the  entire  lockage  of  the  Lachine  Rapids,  a  fall  of  45  feet. 
But  the  West  must  have  uninterrupted  navigation  to  the  ocean  down  the 
Saint  Lawrence.  Hence  for  that  purpose  that  route  is  entirely  worthless. 
A  route,  therefore,  must  be  secured  which  will  accommodate  trade  going 
in  both  directions. 

Third.  That  can  only  be  done  by  running  from  the  Saint  Lawrence  just 
below  the  Victoria  Bridge,  nearly  due  east  to  Chamblee,  at  the  foot  of 
the  rapids  on  the  Sorel  River;  thence  by  an  enlargement  of  the  Chamblee 
Canal  to  Saint  John's,  twelve  miles  distant ;  thence  into  Lake  Champiaiu. 
Indeed,  the  Sorel  River,  above  that  point  is  nothing  more  than  an  en- 
largement of  the  lake.  Distance  from  the  Saint  Lawrence  about  ten 
-  miles,  over  a  level  plain,  but  little  elevated  above  the  Saint  Lawrence 
River,  with  but  little  or  no  rock  cutting.  This  route  would  be  about 
one  hundred  miles  shorter  than  by  the  way  of  the  mouth  of  that  river, 
and  would  save  about  15  feet  of  lockage  on  the  lower  Sorel,  and  also, 
whilst  giving  to  the  West  free  navigation  down  the  Saint  Lawrence 
to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  would,  at  the  same  time,  auswer  all  the  purposes 
of  the  Caughnawaga  route,  saving  to  the  latter  the  25  feet  difference  in 
the  lockage.  This  advantage,  however,  will  be  a  thousand  times  coun- 
terbalanced by  the  facilities  to  direct  trade  up  the  Hudson  and  through 
Lake  Champiaiu,  to  Montreal,  Quebec,  and  the  lower  Saint  Lawrence, 
which  will  be  secured  by  the  u  Chamblee  route,*'  and  which  will  be  the 
shortest  possible  from  Xew  York  to  Montreal.  Daily  lines  of  steamers 
would  commence  running  on  this  route  the  very  day  of  its  completion. 

EK03I  THE  FOOT  TO  THE  HEAD  OF  LAKE  CHAjIPLAIX. 

The  distance  from  the  foot  to  the  head  of  Lake  Champiaiu  is  one 
hundred  and  eleven  miles.  Xo  serious  obstructions  exist  in  this  lake, 
which  gives  a  uniform  depth  of  navigable  water  far  exceeding  the 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


55 


demands  of  the  enterprise.  At  a  few  points  between  Burlington  and 
Whitehall  projecting  rocks  will  have  to  be  cut  off  to  widen,  straighten, 
and  deepen  the  channel.  In  this  lake  the  West  and  East  come  together 
on  a  common  platform,  to  exchange  the  commodities  of  their  respective 
sections,  without  the  intervention  or  exactions  of  middle-men  in  any 
part  of  the  route.  This  means  cheap  provisions  and  an  abundance  of 
them  in  one  section,  and  cheap  manufactures  and  merchandise  to  the 
other. 

FKOM  THE  HEAD  OF  LAKE  CHAMFLAEN  TO  DEEP  "WATER  O:;  THE  HUDSON. 

One  more  obstacle  is  to  be  overcome  before  the  consummation  of  this 
great  continental  enterprise,  to  wit,  continuous  steam-navigation  from 
the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  This  obstacle  exists 
between  the  head  of  Lake  Champlain  and  deep  water  oir  the  Hudson. 
On  a  portion  of  this  route  the  State  of  New  York  has  a  canal  of  small 
capacity,  (about  90  tons,)  known  as  the  Champlain  Canal."'  Whether 
this  contemplated  improvement  will  follow  any  part  of  the  canal  or  not 
we  cannot  say,  but  here,  as  elsewhere,  k*  the  shortest,  cheapest,  and  best 
route  n  will  undoubtedly  be  adopted.  Xor  can  we  say  how  far  down  the 
Hudson  sufficiently  deep  water  will  be  reached;  probably,  however,  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  city  of  Hudson.  By  the  reports  of  Colonel 
McAlpine  and  other  eminent  engineers,  it  is  pre-eminently  a  feasible 
route.  Lake  Champlain  is  90  feet  only  above  tide-water  at  Albany. 
The  summit-level  between  it  and  the  Hudson  River  is  about  50  feet,  and 
can,  at  a  comparatively  small  expense,  be  cut  through  so  as  to  carry  its 
waters  directly  over  into  the  latter,  and  thus  save  the  expense  and  delay 
of  lockage  over  the  summit.  The  requisite  depth  of  water  down  the 
Hudson  can  be  easily  and  cheaply  obtained  for  most  of  the  distance  by 
slack-water.  The  whole  cost  of  this  portion  of  the  route  will  not  exceed 
$8,000,000,  or,  at  most,  810.000,000. 

Sir  John  Young,  of  Montreal,  in  a  speech  before  the  commercial  con- 
vention at  Detroit  in  December  last,  stated : 

Should  the  State  of  New  York  choose  to  enlarge  her  canal  down  from  Whitehall,  it 
can  be  readily  done.  It  has  also  been  surveyed  by  the  very  best  of  your  engineers.  I 
may  mention  Mills  and  McAlpine,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  a  thousand-ton  vessel  could 
not  go  from  the  head  of  Lake  Superior,  or  the  head  of  Lake  Michigan  or  any  other 
western  port  down  to  New  York,  without  breaking  her  bulk,  deliver  her  cargo,  and 
come  back  with  a  return  cargo  from  that  place  to  any  port  on  the  western  lakes.  The 
cost  of  this  portion  of  the  work  will  be  from  eight  to  ten  millions  of  dollars. 

This  speech  of  Sir  John  Young,  who  is  one  of  the  most  liberal,  intel- 
ligent, and  patriotic  men  of  that  or  any  other  country,  although  an  able 
one,  dictated  and  inspired  by  enlarged  and  liberal  views  upon  this  sub- 
ject of  "  continuous  steam  navigation  from  the  interior  to  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  "  was.  nevertheless,  evidently  intended  to  be  in  harmony  with  the 
policy  of  the  Canadian  government,  to  restrict  the  enlargement  of  the 
Welland  Canal  to  vessels  of  one  thousand  tons.  We  have  elsewhere 
proven  that  that  policy  is  dictated  by  a  physical  necessity — that  that 
is  the  utmost  capacity  to  which  that  canal  eon  be  enlarged,  at  least  with- 
out the  expenditure  of  a  very  large  sum  of  money,  far  exceeding  what  will 
be  required  on  the  American  side.  We  think  we  have  also  demonstrated 
that  that  capacity  cannot,  by  any  possibility,  meet  the  demands  and  neces- 
sities of  the  West,  because  it  will  not,  and  cannot,  obviate  the  necessity  of 
transshipment  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Erie.  Any  enlargement  of  either  that  or 
the  Erie  Canal,  which  does  not  remove  that  necessity,  will  be  of  very  little 
advantage  to  the  West,  because  it  cannot  inaugurate  cheap  transpor- 
tation.   That  it  cannot  do  thai  is  established  by  the  fact  that  vessels  are 


56 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


now  being  constructed  on  the  lakes  of  nearly  three  thousand  tons  carry- 
ing capacity;  and  vessels  of  double,  and  probably  treble,  that  capacity, 
can,  and  will,  very  soon,  be  navigating  those  lakes.  When  steel,  instead 
of  iron,  is  used  in  the  construction  of  vessels,  that  will,  undoubtedly,  be 
done.  All  of  those  works,  therefore,  must  be  of  such  capacity  as  to  let 
these  "monsters"  of  the  upper  lakes  through  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean, 
without  transshipment  of  cargo,  or  they  will  be  of  very  little  advantage 
to  that  portion  of  the  people  of  our  country  who  most  need  and  who  are 
intended  to  be  benefited,  to  wit,  those  of  the  great  agricultural  States  of 
the  West.  All  other  interests  of  the  people  may,  and  probably  can,  be 
very  well  accommodated  with  a  less  tonnage. 

QUESTION  NOW  PRESENTED — WHAT  DO  YOU  EXPECT  TO  GAIN  ? 

Thus  have  we  briefly  described  the  several  obstructions  existing 
along  these  great  navigable  water-channels  of  the  continent,  and  the 
question  now  comes  up  for  solution,  to  wit :  "  What  do  you  expect  to 
gain  by  their  removal  T 

First.  In  the  very  first  step  to  be  taken  in  the  execution  of  this  great 
national  measure,  to  wit:  by  breaking  down  that  rocky  barrier  existing 
at  Niagara  Falls  we  at  once  secure  a  very  large  share  of  the  benefits 
which  we  hope  and  expect  to  gain  in  the  final  consummation  of  the 
whole  work,  to  wit,  greatly  reduced  costs  of  transportation  between  the 
West  and  the  markets  existing  in  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States.  By 
reaching  Lake  Ontario  we  shall  secure  the  advantage  of  the  great  number 
of  competing  roads  extending  from  the  principal  commercial  cities  from 
Chesapeake  Bay  to  the  mouth  of  the  Saint  Lawrence. 

COMPETING  LINE  OP  ROAD  TO  BALTIMORE. 

Baltimore  has  a  line  of  road  from  Buffalo.  This  canal  would  give  her 
another  competing  line  of  road,  much  shorter,  and  of  easier  grade  than 
the  one  from  Buffalo.  Hence,  if  the  trade  from  the  lakes  to  that  city 
could  have  the  choice  of  going  down  into  Lake  Ontario  and  there  taking- 
rail,  the  cost  of  transportation  and  trade  centering  at  that  point  would 
be  reduced  at  least  one-half.  Thus  her  coffee  trade  with  Brazil  and 
other  tropical  countries  would  be  vastly  increased  and  extended.  Coffee 
is  an  article  of  prime  necessity  in  the  West;  vast  quantities,  probably 
more  than  one-half  of  the  entire  importation  into  the  country,  is  con- 
sumed in  the  West.  Baltimore  probably  (to  a  great  extent  at  least) 
controlls  that  trade;  therefore,  by  assisting  to  open  up  competing  lines, 
and,  therefore,  cheaper  rates  of  transportation  with  the  West,  she  can 
secure  a  very  large  proportion  and  i>robably  nearly  all  of  that  trade 
with  the  West.  There  are  very  many  other  reasons  which  will  at  once 
suggest  themselves  to  every  one  inquiring  into  this  subject,  why  Balti- 
more will  be  vastly  benefited  by  this  canal. 

PHILADELPHIA  WILL  ALSO  BE  VASTLY  BENEFITED. 

The  same  reasons  will  apply  and  the  same  arguments  may  be  used  in 
relation  to  Philadelphia  as  to  Baltimore,  but  mainly  in  relation  to  other 
branches  of  trade  and  commerce.  That  city  has  an  immense  trade 
with  the  West  in  ready-made  clothing,  as  also  in  many  other  articles  of 
merchandise.  If  the  West  could  have  a  choice  of  routes  to  reach  that 
city,  that  trade  would  be  vastly  increased,  because  the  cost  of  transit 
would  be  very  greatly  reduced,  and  experience  has  demonstrated  that 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


57 


trade  will  increase  just  in  proportion  to  the  reduction  in  the  rates  and 
charges  of  transportation  and  the  markets  which  are  thereby  opened 
up  for  the  sale  of  the  products  of  the  purchasers.  If  a  western  farmer 
or  a  grain-dealer  can,  by  means  of  this  canal,  sell  two  thousand  bushels 
of  wheat,  or  two  hundred  fat  hogs  where  he  has  been  able  heretofore  to 
sell  only  one-half  those  amounts,  it  is  certain  that  he  will  purchase 
double  the  amount  of  merchandise,  whether  coffee,  ready-made  clothing, 
boots  and  shoes,  or  any  other  article  of  merchandise.  Hence  it  will  at 
once  be  seen  how  deep  a  stake  Philadelphia  has  in  the  construction 
of  this  work.  Thereby  her  trade  will  be  vastly  increased,  perhaps 
doubled. 

BENEFIT  TO  NEW  YORK  CITY. 

But  probably  no  city  on  the  continent  has  so  deep  an  interest  in  this 
work  as  New  York  City.  Her  trade,  by  the  confession  of  her  most 
sagacious  and  experienced  merchants  and  business  men,  has  been  going 
from  her  at  a  fearful  rate — diverted  into  other  and  cheaper  channels — 
down  the  Mississippi,  the  Saint  Lawrence,  and  to  other  points,  because 
the  rates  and  costs  of  transportation  have  been  less.  In  1869  about 
15,000,000  bushels  of  wheat  and  flour  arrived  at  Montreal  on  its  way  to 
a  European  market,  which  in  former  years  went  to  that  city,  because 
the  cost  of  transit  by  that  route  to  Europe  was  much  less  than  by  the 
way  of  New  York  City — nearly  one-half  less.  That  shipment  has  been 
greatly  increased  in  subsequent  years.  Hence,  she  lost  that  trade,  as 
also  the  return  merchandise  purchased  by  that  wheat  and  other  trade. 
But  by  this  route  to  Lake  Ontario,  thence  by  the  Oswego  Canal,  mid- 
land and  other  railroads  from  that  lake  to  New  York  City,  she  can  ship 
western  produce  to  Europe  at  cheaper  rates  than  can  under  present 
circumstances  be  done  down  the  Saint  Lawrence.  Hence  she  will,  in  a 
very  great  measure  at  least,  regain  that  trade  which  has  heretofore  been 
•diverted  down  the  Saint  Lawrence  and  in  other  directions  in  couse- 
queuce  of  cheaper  rates  of  transit. 

BOSTON  WILL  BE  A  VERY  GREAT  GAINER  BY  THIS  WORK. 

Probably,  however,  no  city  on  the  Atlantic  sea-board  is  more  deeply 
interested  in  this  enterprise  than  Boston,  because  no  other  city  can 
profit  so  largely  in  its  benefits.  By  a  double  track  railroad  on  the 
Hoosac  Tunnel  route  she  can,  if  she  chooses,  reduce  the  cost  of  transit 
on  wheat  and  other  agricultural  products  to  Liverpool  to  less  than  the 
rates  from  the  Baltic  and  Black  Sea  provinces  of  Central  Europe  and 
Western  Asia.  If  she  can  reduce  that  cost  to  30  cents  per  bushel  on 
wheat,  and  on  other  articles  in  the  same  proportion,  she  will  thereby 
secure  to  the  West  a  control  of  the  markets  of  all  Western  Europe,  now 
exceeding  500,000,000  bushels  of  cereals,  and  other  agricultural  products 
in  the  same  proportion,  and  will  thereby  secure  to  herself  the  carrying 
trade  between  the  great  food-producing  States  of  the  West  and  those 
markets.  This  is  the  prize  which  Boston  is  evidently  endeavoring  to 
secure,  and  which  she  can  most  assuredly  secure  by  the  breaking  down 
of  that  rocky  barrier  existing  at  Niagara  Falls. 

THE    GREAT   MANUFACTURING   TOWNS   OF  NEW  HAMPSHIRE,  MAINE, 
AND  MASSACHUSETTS  WILL  BE  EQUALLY  BENEFITED. 

By  the  consummation  of  that  work  the  great  manufacturing  towns  in 
New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Maine — indeed,  in  all  New  England- 
will  be  equally  benefited,  because  they  will  thereby  secure  one  of  the 


58 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


main  and  most  important  elements  of  success,  to  wit,  cheap  food  and 
abundance  of  it.  The  committee  of  the  Shoe  and  Leather  Association, 
of  Boston,  since  the  lire,  stated  in  their  report:  "That  manufacturing 
success  depended  mainly  upon  cheap  labor,  and  cheap  food  is  essential 
to  cheap  labor,  and  cheap  food  can  only  be  secured  by  cheap  rates 
of  transportation  from  the  fields  of  the  producer  to  the  homes  of  the 
consumer,  to  wit,  the  operatives  in  the  manufacturing  establisments  of 
the  country."  Never  was  a  truer  or  more  appropriate  saying  than  that. 
Now,  we  propose  just  that  same  thing.  By  securing  the  construction 
of  this  canal  around  the  Falls  of  Niagara  we  at  once  and  for  all  time 
inaugurate  cheap  transportation  between  the  food-producer  and  the 
consumer,  to  wit,  the  manufacturing  operative.  We  fulfill  exactly  the 
measure  and  terms  upon  which  the  Boston  Shoe  and  Leather  Association 
aver  that  manufacturing  success  depends. 

THE  ANTHRACITE  COAL  OF  PENNSYLVANIA  TO  SUPPLY  THE  WEST  MUST 
COME  TO  LAKE  ONTARIO. 

With  this  canal  constructed,  and  the  anthracite  coal  of  Pennsylvania 
must  come  to  Lake  Ontario  for  shipment  to  the  upper  lakes,  because  it 
will  then  be  the  nearest,  cheapest,  and  best  route.  That  trade,  although 
in  its  infancy,  is  destined  to  be  of  immense  magnitude  and  importance. 
During  the  past  year  about  2,000,000  tons  were  brought  to  the  lakes, 
more  than  1,000,000  tons  of  which  was  shipped  to  ports  west  of  Buffalo, 
and  about  100,000  tons  to  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio  Valleys,  much  of  it 
as  far  south  as  Saint  Louis  and  Memphis.  At  present  the  cost  from 
Lake  Michigan  to  the  Mississippi  Valley  is  so  great  (about  $3  per  ton) 
as  to  preclude  its  general  use.  When  the  water  route,  by  the  way  of  the 
Wisconsin  and  Fox  Elvers  and  other  like  avenues,  from  that  lake  to  the 
Mississippi,  are  opened  up  so  that  that  coal  can  be  carried  from  Lake 
Ontario  or  foot  of  Lake  Erie  to  the  Mississippi  for  about  $2  per  ton, 
that  valley  alone  north  of  Saint  Louis  will  demand  annually  at  least 
1,000,000  tons,  with  an  annual  increase  of  at  least  10  per  cent.,  or 
100,000  tons.  The  Mississippi  Valley,  at  least  the  best  portions  of  it,  is 
u  a  timberless  region."  Whatever  timber  there  is  (which  is  along  the 
streams  and  bluffy  portions,  mostly  unsuitable  for  cultivation,)  is  being 
rapidly  consumed  for  railroad  purposes.  More  than  five  million  trees 
of  oak  and  other  hard-wood  timber  are  annually  consumed  for  that  pur- 
pose in  the  Upper  Mississippi  Valley  and  of  its  tributaries  north  of  the 
north  boundary  of  the  State  of  Illinois.  In  a  very  few  years  (eight  or 
ten)  all  the  hard  wood  in  that  whole  Upper  Mississippi  Valley  suitable 
for  ties  and  other  railroad  purposes  will  be  consumed.  With  still 
greater  rapidity  is  hard-wood  timber  being  consumed  in  the  States  of 
Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Michigan.  The  only  other  dependence  of  that  vast 
region  of  country  for  fuel  is  upon  the  bituminous  coals  of  the  country. 
These,  although  excellent  for  manufacturing,  mechanical,  and  railroad 
purposes,  are  a  very  poor  substitute  for  either  wood  or  anthracite  coal 
for  household,  church,  store,  or  office  purposes.  Hence,  as  soon  as 
these  regions  can,  by  the  cheapening  of  transportation,  exchange  their 
corn  and  other  agricultural  products  for  anthracite  coal,  they  will  do  so 
in  vast  quantities.  In  ten  vears,  instead  of  demanding  1,000,000  tons 
annually,  they  will  require  from  5,000,000  to  10,000,000  tons.  The  best  and 
cheapest  ports  of  shipment  for  that  coal  will  be  on  Lake  Ontario, 
because  the  nearest,  by  at  least  100  miles  by  rail,  to  the  coal-fields  in 
Pennsylvania.  The  West  needs  this  Niagara  Ship-Canal  for  the  ship- 
ment west  of  this  vast  amount  of  coal,  quite  as  much  as  for  the  shipment 


NIAGARA  6 HIP-CANAL. 


59 


of  their  agricultural  products  east,  because  thereby  will  be  created 
competition  between  Buffalo  and  the  ports  on  Lake  Ontario. 

THE  PENNSYLVANIA  ANTHRACITE  COAL  PRACTICALLY  INEXHAUSTIBLE. 

The  Pennsylvania  anthracite  coal-fields  are  practically  inexhaustible. 
There  are  three  beds  or  basins  of  that  coal :  First,  the  most  southerly, 
or  Schuylkill  j  second,  the  middle,  or  Lehigh ;  third,  the  most  northerly,  or 
Lackawanna  and  Wyoming.  This  last  deposit  is  large,  probably  equal 
to  both  the  others,  and  of  superior  quality.  The  best  and  most  reliable 
engineers  of  that  State  compute  that  this  basin  alone  contains  at  least 
14,000,000,000  tons,  (or  fourteen  thousand  million  tons.)  which  alone 
will  supply  the  people  of  the  whole  continent  with  fuel  for  probably  a 
thousand  years.  This  coal-measure  belongs  most  emphatically  to  the 
basin  of  the  great  lakes,  and  must  be  the  main  source  from  whence  the 
people  of  the  lake  region  and  beyond  will  draw  their  supplies.  It  will 
be  moved  to  the  different  ports  on  that  lake  over  roads  of  easy  grade, 
(not  exceeding  20  feet  to  the  mile  in  any  part,)  and  by  distances  shorter 
by  100  miles  than  to  any  other  port  of  any  other  of  the  lakes.  Hence 
for  this  trade  alone  that  Niagara  Falls  Ship-Canal  is  an  imperative 
necessity. 

NEEDED  ALSO  FOR  TEE  LAKE  LTT&tBER  TRADE. 

There  are  probably  nearly  five  thousand  million  feet  of  pine  lumber 
annually  moving  on  the  Upper'  Lakes,  a  very  large  proportion  (prob- 
ably one-third)  of  which  goes  east  to  supply  the  markets  in  Xew  York, 
New  Jersey.  Pennsylvania,  and  the  Xew  England  States.  The  foot  of 
Lake  Erie  has  now  a  monopoly  of  that  trade,  dictating  its  own  terms 
for  carrying  it,  hecause  of  that  monopoly.  Every  thousand  feet  of  that 
lumber  costs  the  consumer  very  considerably  more  than  it  should  or 
would  if  the  lumbermen  of  the  lakes  had  that  canal  through  which  they 
could  have  their  choice  to  ship  their  timber  down  into  Lake  Ontario, 
and  thence  to  a  market  over  some  one  of  the  great  number  of  competing 
lines  of  road  reaching  that  lake.  For  this  interest  also  that  canal  is  an 
imperative  necessity. 

Second.  We  also  secure  an  uninterrupted  navigable  route  of  nearly 
three  thousand  miles,  including  the  Saint  Lawrence,  of  almost  unlimited 
capacity,  from  the  very  heart  of  the  continent  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean  at 
the  commercial  metropolis  of  the  continent,  and  to  Europe,  upon  which 
the  young  and  enterprising  business  men  of  the  country,  in  all  ages  to 
come,  can  compete  successfully  with  moneyed  and  other  powerful  monop- 
olies for  the  carrying-trade,  not  only  of  the  continent,  but  also  of  the 
world.  AYe  do  not  expect  that  all  heavy  and  bulky  commodities  from 
either  section  will  pass  over  the  route,  but  we  do  assume,  without  fear 
of  successful  contradiction,  that  if  they  go  over  other  routes,  as  rail- 
roads or  the  Erie  Canal,  they  will  invariably  do  so  at  about  the  rates  for 
which  they  can  be  carried  on  this.  Thus  we  secure  cheap  transportation 
in  all  things,  which  by  no  possibility  can  be  secured  under  the  present 
and  prospective  state  of  affairs. 

Third.  By  the  competition  created  by  this  route  we  shall  be  able  to 
reach  European  markets  of  almost  unlimited  demand,  which  are  now 
closed  and  hermetically  sealed  up  against  us,  because  of  the  expense  of 
reaching  them.  The  mission  of  this  enterprise  is  to  reduce  the  cost  of 
shipment  from  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  to  Europe  to  thirty  ceuts 
per  bushel  on  cereals,  and  everything  else  in  the  same  proportion.  We 


60 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


can  then  ship  to  Europe  and  a  remunerative  market  oar  coarser  products, 
as  corn,  oats,  barley,  hay,  and  other  products. 

Fourth.  By  this  route  we  shall  be  able  to  compete  successfully  with 
the  Baltic  and  Black  Sea  provinces  for  the  wheat-markets  of  Europe, 
which  are  already  of  almost  unlimited  demands,  because  we  can  then 
ship  to  Liverpool,  and  other  markets  of  Western  Europe,  our  wheat  for 
less  than  30  cents  per  bushel,  while  it  costs  from  35  to  45  cents  per 
bushel  to  bring  it  down  from  the  grain-fields  of  Northern  Europe  and 
Central  Asia. 

The  legislature  of  Illinois,  in  their  resolutions  to  Congress  on  the 
subject  of  the  Niagara  Falls  Ship-Canal,  adopted  December  21,  1871, 
say  that  "If  the  cost  of  transportation  of  the  cereals  to  tide- water 
should  be  reduced  10  cents  per  bushel,  our  products  would  command 
the  markets  of  all  Western  Europe." 

We  propose  by  this  water-route  so  to  "cheapen  transportation"  that 
the  whole  cost  from  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  to  Liverpool,  including 
insurance,  commission,  &c,  shall  not  exceed  35  cents  per  bushel.  The 
foregoing  tables  incontestably  demonstrate  this  proposition.  When  we 
have  reduced  the  cost  to  the  same  level,  our  shippers  will  inevitably 
secure  the  markets  by  the  strength  of  competition. 

^VHAT  ARE  THE  EUROPEAN  MARKETS? 

In  the  report  of  the  Boyal  Agricultural  Society,  of  England,  for  the 
year  18G8,  page  18,  it  is  stated  "  that  England,  for  the  year  1870,  and 
annually  thereafter,  will  need  at  least  100,000,000  bushels  of  wheat  over 
and  above  her  own  productions,  to  feed  her  populations  of  England, 
Scotland,  and  Ireland,  and  that  the  increase  thereon  will  be  about  5 
per  cent,  per  annum,  or  five  million  bushels." 

About  the  1st  of  November  last,  the  following  notice  appeared  in  the 
London  Times,  from  which  it  was  copied  into  very  many  American 
papers  : 

Importations  of  wheat. — For  ten  months  ending;  the  1st  of  October,  England  has 
imported  130.U00.000  bushels  of  wheat,  over  and  above  her  own  productions,  to  feed 
her  populations  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  and  the  probability— nay,  cer- 
tainty— is,  that  for  the  next  two  months  her  importations  will  amount  to  20,000,000 
bushels  more,  making,  for  the  year,  150,000,000  bushels;  and  that,  too,  over  and  above 
a  large  importation  of  rye,  barley,  oats,  and  some  corn  from  the  States.  The  probabil- 
ities are,  that  for  the  coming  year  this  amount  will  be  increased  about  10  per  cent. ; 
in  other  words,  our  importations  for  the  year  ending  1st  of  January,  1874,  will  be 
about  165,000,000  bushels,  and  more  likely  to  be  10,000,000  more,  than  to  fall  short 
5,000,000.  Of  this  amount,  the  United  States,  with  a  surplus  of  150,000,000  bushels, 
furnishes  about  15,000,000. 

We  appeal  to  honorable  members,  and  especially  those  from  the 
wheat-growing  States  of  the  West,  that  this  is  a  very  bad  showing  for 
the  most  vital  interests  of  your  constituents.  Is  there  no  remedy  ? 
Yes,  there  is ;  to  wit,  in  the  construction  and  speedy  completion  of  this 
ship-canal.  We  know  of  no  other.  All  others  have  been  tried,  and 
utterly  failed. 

The  foregoing  statement  is  confirmed  by  the  Mark  Lane  Express,  of 
about  the  same  period.  The  latter  goes  on  to  say,  "  that  unless  the 
Americans  will  cheapen  transportation  from  the  interior  to  the  sea- 
board, so  that  they  can  compete  with  the  producers  of  the  Baltic  and 
Black  Sea  provinces,  the  price  of  breadstuff's  must  be  materially  aug- 
mented in  our  markets."  A  prophecy  which  has  been  most  emphat- 
ically fulfilled.  The  prices  of  provisions,  and  especially  breadstuff's,  have 
been  very  nearly  doubled  in  the  English  markets  within  the  last  live 
years.     Baring  Brothers,  the  great  London  bankers  and  European 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CAXAL. 


61 


provision  brokers,  in  their  annual  circular  for  the  same  year,  (1868;) 
pages  13,  14,  &c,  state  "  that  the  demand  of  the  European  markets  for 
agricultural  products — especially  cereals,  as  wheat,  corn,  oats,  barley, 
<&c. — exceed  500,000,000  bushels  per  annum ;  and  that  u  if  the  Americans 
will  only  open  that  water  route  from  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  to  the 
Atlantic  sea-board,  by  the  way  of  the  great  lakes  and  river  Saint  Law- 
rence, and  thereby  inaugurate  1  cheap  transportation''  thereon,  they  can 
and  will  supply  a  very  large  proportion  of  that  demand." 

But  the  West  can  never  secure  those  markets  with  the  present  means 
and  facilities  for  transportation,  because  it  can  never  compete  with  the 
merchants  and  grain-dealers  of  Europe  and  Asia. 

SIR  MORTON  PETO'S  VIEWS  ON  THIS  SUBJECT. 

Sir  Morton  Peto,  iu  his  very  interesting  work  on  the  Resources  and 
Prospects  of  American  Agriculture  and  Commerce,  makes  the  follow- 
ing truthful  observations: 

How  fur  is  the  amount  of  tonnage  employed  iu  inland  intercourse  in  America  ade- 
quate to  the  wants  of  the  country  f  In  considering  this  point  we  have  to  regard  the 
very  great  length  over  which  traffic  has  to  he  carried,  and,  looking  at  those  distances, 
no  reasonable  doubt  can  he  entertained  that  the  inland  navigation  of  America  is  very 
inadequate  to  the  wants  of  the  people.  'It  has  not,  in  fact,  kept  pace  with  the  population  and 
j)rogress  of  the  country.  *  *  *  *  A  vast  mass  of  produce  is  yearly  destroyed 
from  the  inability  of  the  carriers  to  forward  it.  The  owners  are  ruined,  and  parties 
in  the  Eastern  States  who  advauce  money  on  this  produce  must  charge  excessive  rates 
to  cover  the  risks  of  delay.  The  grain -producers  of  the  Western  States  are  quite  unable  to 
find  sufficient  means  of  conveyance  for  their  products,  because  the  railroads  from  West  to  East 
are  choked  with  traffic.  *  *  *  The  produce  of  the  Western  States  has,  in  fact, 
increased  faster  than  the  means  of  transport,  and  additional  facilities  for  the  convey- 
ance thereof  are  urgently  needed.  »,*_,«  The  prosperity  of  the  West,  the  t 
value  of  its  produce,  the  value  of  its  land,  and  the  extent  of  laud  cultivated,  indeed, 
all  the  material  interests  of  the  country,  therefore,  depend  upon  increased  facilities  for  the 
conveyance  of  its  products  w  market. 

These  are  but  a  few  and  very  brief  extracts  from  the  obser- 
vations of  that  very  astute  and  keen-sighted  Englishman  on  this  sub- 
ject of  "cheap  transportation"  between  the  East  and  West,  which  he 
has  recorded  in  his  book.  These  observations  were  made  more  than 
ten  years  ago.  Since  then  our  agricultural  products  have  vastly  in- 
creased, while  the  means  and  facilities  for  transporting  them  to  an 
eastern  and  European  market  have  not  been  enlarged  at  all,  and  while 
the  costs  of  transit  on  most  articles  have  been  nearly  doubled. 

HOME  AUTHORITIES  ON  THIS  SUBJECT. 

The  Chicago  Tribune,  in  speaking  upon  this  same  subject,  more  than 
two  years  ago,  stated  that  "  the  West  is  even  now  at  the  end  of  ite 
transit  ability.  Not  another  ton  of  freight  can  be  moved,  from  the  West 
to  the  East  with  the  present  means  and  facilities  of  transportation,  im- 
mense as  they  confessedly  are? 

Governor  Merrill,  of  Iowa,  in  a  letter  to  Colonel  L.  A.  Thomas,  dated 
October  4,  1871,  in  commenting  upon  this  statement,  says : 

If  this  was  true  at  that  time,  (and  I  have  not  the  slightest  douht  of  it,)  how  much 
more  emphatically  is  it  the  case  at  the  present  day;  the  facilities  of, transportation 
thus  fully  occupied  then,  have  not  heen  increased,  yet  the  population  of  the  West  in 
that  period  of  time  has  heen  augmented  by  nearly,  if  not  quite,  a  million  of  people, 
nine-tenths  of  whom  are  agriculturists,  who  hy  their  industry  and  energy  are  adding 
immensely  to  her  agricultural  products,  even  while  the  fruits  of  their  labor  yield 
them  little  more  than  a  bare  living.  And  no  amount  of  probable  increase  of  railroad 
facilities  will  be  adequate  to  the  demand. 

These  are  weighty  and  important  words,  because  no  man  has  given 


62 


XIAGAEA  SHIP-CAXAL. 


more  attention  or  devoted  more  time  to  the  promotion  of  this  measure 
than  Governor  Merrill.  He  is,  in  fact,  one  of  the  pioneers  in  this  great 
national  enterprise. 

Mr.  Bennett,  late  member  of  Congress  from  the  Buffalo  (New  York) 
district,  estimates  that  the  reduction  on  freight  by  the  enlargement  of 
the  locks  of  the  Erie  Canal  "  would  equal  a  saving  of  $15,000,000  per 
annum  on  the  movement  of  grain  eastward  by  the  water-routes." 

In  a  report  made  by  Hon.  Israel  T.  Hatch  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  in  January,  18G7,  (House  Executive  Document  No.  78,  second 
session  Thirty -ninth  Congress,  page  4,)  he  says : 

An  elaborate  investigation  shows  the  following  results  as  exemplified  by  a  fair  com- 
parison, of  the  relative  cost  of  transportation  by  rail  and  other  means  of  conveyance 
best  known  in  the  United  States  : 

By  rail  costs  733.3  per  cent,  greater  than  ocean  transportation,  525  per  cent,  greater 
than  by  lake,  215  greater  than  Erie  Canal,  and  400  per  cent,  greater  than  Hudson  and 
other  river  navigation. 

The  Erie  Canal  is  310  per  cent,  greater  than  by  lake.  Mr.  Hatch 
goes  on  to  say  : 

But  the  western  producer  is  liable  to  suffer,  not  merely  by  reason  of  the  necessarily 
great  cost  of  railroad  transportation,  but  by  extortionate  charges  rendered  practicable 
by  the  monopoly  of  immense  railroad  combinations  and  by  the  want  of  rival  and  com- 
peting routes  and  modes  of  transportation.  The  aunual  tax  now  imposed  upon  the 
people  of  the  West  by  these  enormous  charges  for  tolls  and  freight,  profits  of  dealers, 
all  deducted  from  the  final  market-price  of  products,  reducing  the  amount  the  producer 
receives,  ought  not  longer  to  be  endured,  if  it  be  practicable  to  avoid  it. — (Ibid.,  p.  5.) 

Mr.  Hatch  says  still  further  : 

Freights  can  be  reduced,  and  thus',  even  without  any  iucrease  in  the  price  of  wheat 
at  its  ultimate  market,  give  to  the  producer  more  "of  that  price  than  he  now  receives. 

The  following  tables  will  illustrate  this  statement: 

BY  THE  WATER-ROUTE  DOWX  THE  SAINT  LAWRENCE. 


Cost  of  transportation  to  Liverpool  per  bushel,  as  above  stated   $0  33 

Marine  insurance   2^- 

Commission   3 

Handling   2 


Total   38^ 


BY  WATER  AND  BAIL  TO  NEW  YORK,  THENCE  TO  LIVERPOOL. 

Cost  of  transportation  via  New  York  to  Liverpool,  per  bushel-   $0  51 

Marine  insurance   2£ 

Commission,   3£ 

Handling,  2  cents,  and  oue  additional  transshipment,  1  cent   3 


Total   60 


Now  suppose  wheat  to  be  81.30  in  Liverpool.  This  will  leave  the  ship- 
per 92J  cents  by  the  way  of  the  Saint  Lawrence,  and  70  cents  per  bushel 
by  the  way  of  New  York.  This  will  make  a  difference  of  22^  cents  per 
bushel  in  favor  of  the  Saint  Lawrence  route. 

But  there  is  now  au  embargo  on  certain  articles  of  agriculture. 

The  above  estimates  are  based  upon  the  rates  when  there  is  no  extra- 
ordinary pressure  upon  the  roads.  When  there  is  such  pressure,  the 
costs  of  transportation  are  often  twice,  and  sometimes  three  and  four 
times  as  great.  Sometimes  there  is  an  entire  embargo  upon  certain 
kinds  of  produce,  which  now  actually  exists  on  oats.  All  the  railroads 
throughout  the  country  reaching  to  the  eastern  sea-board  (August,  1872) 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


03 


refuse  to  carry  oats  at  any  price.  "The  reason  given  is  tliat  other 
freights  so  crowd  their  roads  that  it  is  impossible  to  carry  all,  and  hence 
they  are  compelled  to  discriminate  against  some  articles,  and  conse- 
quently have  done  so  against  oats  as  least  injurious  to  the  public." 

NO  REMEDY  BUT  EN  THIS  WATER -ROUTE. 

The  only  complete  and  possible  remedy  for  all  these  evils  and  exac- 
tions is  this  water-route.  This  will  be  that  "other  entire  system" 
of  transportation  which,  and  which  alone,  can  by  any  possibility  grap- 
ple with  and  overcome  these  monstrous  and  oppressive  monopolies. 
With  this  route  open  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean  it  would  be  impossible  to 
make  any  combinations  to  put  freights  above  fair  and  reasonable 
charges,  because  it  would  be  impossible  to  combine  the  shipping  inter- 
ests of  the  lakes  with  the  railroads  for  any  such  purpose.  The  latter 
might  buy  up  all  the  vessels  on  the  lakes,  but  before  they  could  begin 
to  reap  the  reward  of  their  monopoly  others  would  take  their  places. 

IT  IS   CLAIMED   THAT   THE   BUSINESS   OF   THE   COUNTRY   WILL  NOT 

JUSTIFY  THE  WORK. 

It  is  claimed  by  the  opponents  of  this  work  that  the  business  between 
the  East  and  West  will  not,  as  yet,  justify  its  construction.  The  Chicago 
Tribune,  in  the  article  above  referred  to,  says:  "That  there  are  at  least 
10,000,000  tons  of  freight  which  would  annually  pass  between  the  East 
and  West,  but  which  at  the  present  time  is  entirely  unprovided  for  by 
the  present  means  of  transportation.'"  That  was  three  years  ago.  Now, 
there  are  at  least  40,000,000  tons  of  freight  annually  passing  between 
the  East  and  West,  (or  would  be  if  there  were  means  for  transporta- 
tion,) not  more  than  20,000,000  tons  of  which  are,  or  can  be,  accommoda- 
ted by  the  present  means  of  transportation.  In  1871,  the  States  above 
enumerated  raised  about  1,500,000,000  bushels  of  cereals  of  all  kinds, 
one-third  of  which,  the  coarser,  as  well  as  wheat,  would  seek  an  eastern 
and  European  market  if  the  cost  of  transportation  could  be  so  reduced 
as  to  compete  in  the  latter,  and  in  that  event  there  would  be  an  annual 
shipment  of  at  least  300,000.000  bushels  to  supply  those  markets,  as 
also  our  own.  At  present  the  amount  does  not  much,  if  any,  exceed 
100,000,000  bushels.  With  those  means  of  transportation  there  would  be 
at  least  10,000,000  fat  hogs  to  be  sent  to  market  frouf  those  States. 
These  are  but  a  few  of  the  articles  of  agricultural  produce  to  be  for- 
warded from  those  States  which  go  to  make  up  the  enormous  amount 
of  freight  passing  between  the  two  sections. 

NEW  INDUSTRIES  WOULD  SPRING  UP  IN  CONSEQUENCE  OF  THE  OPEN- 
ING UP  OF  THIS  ROUTE. 

New  industries  would  spring  up  and  flourish  in  consequence  of  the 
opening  up  of  this  water-route,  especially  in  the  article  of  hay.  The 
average  price  of  baled  hay  in  the  Liverpool  markets  for  the  last  five  years 
has  exceeded  $30  per  ton.  Whenever  there  is  a  temporary  scarcity, 
as  was  the  case  a  few  years  ago,  the  price  far  exceeds  that  amount. 
The  entire  lake  region  in  the  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michi- 
gan, and  Wisconsin  is  far  better  suited  to  that  crop  than  to  any  other. 
It  is  neither  adapted  to  agricultural  nor  grazing  purposes,  being  too  level 
and  uniformly  cold  for  the  former,  and  too  wet  for  the  latter ;  stock  of 
all  kinds  being  unhealthy,  partly  owing  to  the  miasma  rising  from  the 


64 


NIAGARA  8HIP-CANAI* 


ground,  and  partly  froin  always  being  confined  to  those  low  and  gener- 
ally wet  lands,  sheep,  especially,  often  becoming  deeply  diseased  with 
the  foot-rot  and  scurvy.  But  for  grass-crops  those  low  lands  are  un- 
equaled  by  any  on  the  continent,  and  probably  in  the  world.  And  yet 
there  is  no  market  for  that  peculiar  product,  and  consequently  no  in- 
ducement to  embark  in  its  cultivation  ;  under  the  present  system,  the 
cost  of  transportation  to  the  markets  of  Western  Europe  being  so  great 
that  the  whole  cargo  would  be  consumed  in  the  cost  of  transit;  hence 
large  areas  of  those  lake  lands  are  idle  and  worthless,  and  will  remain 
so  until  this  market  can  be  opened.  If,  therefore,  that  water-route  can 
be  so  improved  as  that  vessels  of  only  2,000  tons  capacity,  for  example, 
can  load  at  any  poiut  along  the  lakes  and  go  directly  through  to  Liver- 
pool without  transshipment,  the  lake  farmers  could  successfully  cempete 
with  the  European  farmers  in  their  own  markets.    This  will  be  clearly 


demonstrated  by  a  single  example: 

Per  ton. 

English  hay  in  the  Liverpool  market  £20  00 

Lake  bay,  $5  per  ton,  to  the  farmer     $5  00 

Baling,  aud  delivering  at  Lake  Shore   5  00 

Average  distance  to  Montreal,  800  miles  at  5  mills  per  ton  per  mile   4  00 

From  Montreal  to  Liverpool,  2,850  miles,  at  2  mills  per  ton  per  mile   5  70 

Insurance  to  Liverpool,  per  ton   20 

Handling  and  commission,  per  ton   3  00 

  22  90 


Clear  profit  per  ton  ,   7  10 


From  these  estimates  it  will  be  observed  that  the  hay  interests  of  the 
lakes  could,  at  once,  successfully  compete  with  the  European  agricul- 
turists in  their  own  markets,  and  those  lake-lands  be  made  very  valuable. 
The  demand  for  this  product,  as  well  as  for  the  cereals,  is  rapidly  in- 
creasing in  all  Western  Europe,  in  consequence  of  a  large  portion  of 
their  best  arable  and  meadow  lands  being  devoted  to  the  culture  of  the 
sugar-beet.  This  interest  requires  large  numbers  of  cattle  to  consume 
the  refuse,  or  "  pulp,"  of  the  beet.  A  certain  proportion  of  hay  is  indis- 
pensable in  feeding  the  cattle,  which  are  always  kept  in  the  stalls.  It  is 
cheaper  and  more  economical  to  purchase  this  hay  in  the  markets  than 
to  devote  so  large  a  portion  of  their  best  beet-lands  as  would  be  neces- 
sary to  raise  it.  Hence,  with  that  route  opeu  to  the  sea-board,  the 
demand  for  baled  hay  from  the  lakes  would  be  almost  unlimited.  The 
present  European  demand  exceeds  3,000,000  tons  per  annum,  a  large 
proportion  of  which  now  comes  from  Sweden,  Norway,  and  Russian 
Poland.  Those  States  could  also  furnish  the  English  grazers  of  cattle 
and  sheep  hay  at  a  cheaper  rate  than  they  can  possibly  raise  it  them- 
selves. So  also  the  markets  of  London,  Liverpool,  Paris,  and  other 
cities  of  England  and  Western  Europe.  We  could  furnish  them  all  at 
cheaper  rates  than  the  English  farmer,  or  from  the  Baltic. 

THE  MAOTFAGTUBING  AND  OTHER  INTERESTS  TO  BE  IMMENSELY  BENE- 
FITED BY  THIS  MEASURE. 

The  manufacturing,  commercial,  and  other  interests  would  be  im- 
mensely benefited  by  this  improvement,  because  it  would  furnish  a  re- 
munerative and  unlimited  market  for  all  of  our  agricultural  products, 
thereby  increasing  the  ability  of  the  people  of  that  section  to  consume 
the  manufactures  and  other  commodities  aud  produces  of  other  portions 
of  the  country,  and  at  the  same  time  would  not  demand  or  require  the 
sacrifice  of  any  of  those  interests.    The  people  in  that  section  could 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


then  very  well  afford  to  pay  a  pretty  high  tariff  on  iron  and  other  manu- 
factures of  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States.  It  is  the  want  of  a  marled 
for  their  products,  and  not  a  high  tariff',  that  oppresses  the  agricultural 
States  of  the  West,  and  will  continue  to  do  so  until  those  markets  are 
supplied. 

The  opinion  on  this  subject  of  *one  of  the  first  statesmen  of  the  country, 
as  also  one  of  the  first  minds  of  any  age,  is  peculiarly  appropriate  just 
here : 

With  me  it  is  a  fundamental  axiom,  it  is  interwoven  with  all  my  opinions,  that  the 
great  interests  of  the  country  are  united  and  inseparable  :  that  agriculture,  commerce, 
and  manufactures,  will  prosper  together  or  languish  together ;  and  all  legislation  is 
dangerous  which  proposes  to  henetit  one  of  these  without  looking  to  consequences 
which  may  fall  on  the  others— (Daniel  Webster,  1824.) 

The  following  article  written  by  Mr.  AlvinBronson,  now  nearly  ninety 
years  of  age,  and  for  about  seventy  years  a  merchant  and  active  busi- 
ness man,  residing  on  Lake  Ontario,  has  an  interest  and  significance 
which  would  not  and  could  not  apply  to  the  opinions  of  any  other  man 
now  living,  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  Gerritt  Smith,  or  Peter 
( Jooper,  of  New  York  City : 

CONTINENTAL  PRODUCTION  AND  TRAFFIC. 

Since  preparing  the  foregoing  paper  I  have  had  access  to  tables  compiled  by  a  com- 
mission appointed  by  the  late  commercial  convention  at  Detroit,  comprising  the  pro- 
ducts in  wheat,  corn,  and  domestic  animals  of  twelve  States,  calling  Dakota  a  State,  for 
live  years,  1867  and  1872  inclusive. 

These  twelve  States  are  clustered  around  and  near  the  four  great  lakes,  beyond  the 
Niagara  Falls,  and  on  or  near  the  Upper  Mississippi,  half  of  them  having  sprung  up  in 
the  last  two  decades.  In  size  each  State,  when  averaged,  is  equal  to  the  six  New 
England  States,  or,  in  the  aggregate,  equal  to  seventy-two  New  England  States,  with  a 
mild  and  salubrious  climate  and  a  generous  soil.  These  States — Ohio,  Kentucky,  Indi- 
ana. Michigan.  Wisconsin,  and  Illinois,  east  of  tin1  Mississippi;  and  Missouri,  Iowa. 
Minnesota,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  and  Dakota,  west  of  this  river,  contain  about  one-third 
of  the  population  of  the  Union,  yielding  twice  as  much  wheat  and  corn  as  the  remain- 
ing twenty-six  old  States,  comprising  all  the  surplus  grain  of  the  Union,  together  with 
half  the  domestic  animals  and  their  products. 

To  give  value  to  these  great  and  productive  States  and  as  many  more  soon  to  follow  in 
the  Northwest,  the  long-delayed  Niagara  Ship-Canal  ou  our  side  of  the  national  border 
is  an  important  element.  This  improvement,  emphatically  national,  extends  the  eight 
hundred  miles  of  lake  navigation,  embracing  Lake  Ontario,  to  one  thousand  miles  in 
the  direction  of  the  Atlantic  ;  a  channel  of  trade  that  not  only  defies  monopoly,  but  is 
invested  with  the  power  of  breaking  down  all  monopolies  on  this  part  of  the  continent, 
such  as  State  canals,  incorporated  railroads  with  large  capitals,  seeking  large  divi- 
dends or  watered  stock  by  extorting  high  prices,  instead  of  cheapening  transportation. 
All  this  will  be  achieved  by  this  national  enterprise  and  a  laudable  and  healthy  com- 
petition established  from  the  Chesapeake  to  the  Saint  Lawrence  for  the  vast  products 
of  the  Northwest. 

The  worthy  projectors  of  the  Erie  Canal  propounded  the  theory  "that  trade  once 
afloat  on  Lake  Ontario  would  seek  an  Fnglish  market,  enriching  our  commercial 
rival." 

This  theory  was  derived  from  a  long-cherished  fallacy,  on  which  was  founded  the 
ancient  British  navigation  laws,  and,  more  recently,  her  corn  laws.  These  encouraged 
exportation  and  discouraged  importation  by  bounties,  duties,  and  penalties.  Commerce 
was  deemed  a  game  by  which  one  party  won  wha  t  the  other  lost,  the  winner  hoarding 
the  precious  metals.  This  vicious  system  gave  way  when  Great  Britain  found  in  the 
United  States  a  competitor  strong  enough  to  retaliate  by  countervailing  bounties  and 
restrictions,  and  ready  to  reciprocate  free  trade  in  the  commodities  of  both,  and  thus 
avoid  the  folly  and  waste  of  employing  two  ships  to  perform  the  work  of  one.  Near 
the  middle  of  the  present  century,  under  the  administration  of  Sir  Robert  Peel,  these 
statutes  were  swept  from  the  British  maritime  code,  and  soon  followed  by  the  Ashbnr- 
ton  treaty  of  reciprocity,  which,  in  an  evil  hour,  was  abrogated  by  our  Government, 
under  the  influence  of  bad  temper,  provoked  by  Canadian  favor  to  southern  rebels  and 
renegades.  This  ill-judged  measure  has  been  partially  remedied  by  the  late  treaty  of 
Washington,  which  restores  the  free  navigation  of  the  Saint  Lawrence. 

The  congress  of  sovereigns  convened  at  Vienna  in  1815,  propounded  the  theorv  that 
IT.  Mis.  22  5 


N IAG  AR A  S  HIP-C A XAL. 


nations  owning  and  occupying  the  upper  waters  of  a  river  bad  the  right  of  trade  aud 
transit  through  its  month  with  the  ocean,  although  the  mouth  of  the  river  was  owned 
and  occupied  by  another  nation.  This  doctrine,  or  national  law,  has  been  recognized 
and  fortified  ever  since  by  usage,  by  treaties,  by  permits,  both  in  Europe  and  America, 
applicable  to  the  Danube  and  the  Saint  Lawrence.  When  the  agitation  of  the  north- 
western boundary  threatened  the  harmony  of  two  nations,  two  articles  appeared  in 
the  Journal  of  Commerce,  New  York,  almost  simultaneously,  advocating  the  mutual 
free  trade  of  the  Saint  Lawrence  and  the  Columbia  ;  one  originating  at  Oswego,  the 
other  signed  by  the  late  distinguished  statesman  Albert  Gallatin.  The  first  quoting 
the  action  of  the  Vienna  convention,  the  other  by  Mr.  Gallatin,  saying  iS  This  theory, 
or  tenet,  had  become  almost  the  settled  law  of  nations  in  Europe." 

It  may  safely  be  assumed  that  we  shall  hereafter  enjoy  the  benefits  of  this  outlet  for 
the  products  and  traffic  of  our  vast  domain,  improved  and  perfected  by  the  funds  of 
Great  Britain,  instead  of  a  commercial  rival,  a  co-worker  with  and  for  us,  for  the  joint 
benefit  of  both,  as  we  are  joint  proprietors  of  the  continent ;  nor  will  her  share  of 
these  benefits  be  the  largest. 

With  a  second  transcontinental  railroad  completed,  the  Niagara  barrier  broken 
down,  the  Green  Mountain  impediment  removed:  with  shipping  and  barges,  internal 
and  external,  quadrupled  in  tonnage  and  doubled  in  speed,  with  free  trade  for  a  motto 
and  enlightened  labor  for  a  watch-word,  our  continent  will  exhibit  a  scene  of  activity, 
wealth,  and  power,  such  as  the  world  has  never  witnessed,  and  that  in  a  period  shorter 
than  has  been  allotted  to  tlfe  humble  author  <>f  this  paper. 

ALYIX  BROXSOX. 

OSWEGO,  October  1,  1872. 

CHExVP  FOOD  WOULD  '  REMOVE    OXE,  AXD    TKOUABLY   THE  3UV1X.  IN- 
DUCEMENT TO  "  STRIKES  *'  AMOXG  OPERATIVES. 

The  question  of  cheap  food  is  one  of  vital  importance  to  the  Eastern  States.  Cheap 
food  makes  cheap  labor,  which  is  the  foundation  of  the  success  of  manufactures.  High 
prices  of  food  cause  a  demand  for  higher  prices  of  labor,  strikes  among  operatives, 
interruptions  to  business,  and  general  distress  and  loss  in  manufacturing  communities. 

Cheap  transportation  would  have  the  effect  of  reducing  the  price  of  provisions,  aud 
would  thereby  benefit  the  manufacturers  of  the  East  as  much  as  it  would  the  farmers 
of  the  West. — (Report  of  the  United  States  engineer  of  the  James  River  aud  Kanawha 
Canal,  1871,  p.  78.) 

The  present  strikes  aud  disastrous  troubles  among  the  operatives  of 
the  manufacturers  aud  mechanics  in  all  the  eastern  cities  and.  manu- 
facturing districts  can  be  traced  directly  to  the  high  prices  of  provisions 
and  other  necessaries  of  life. 

The  following  are  a  portion  of  the  resolutions  of  a  meeting  held  in 
Xew  York  City  in  May  last  by  the  carpenters  and  bricklayers  of  that 
city,  to  wit : 

Resolved,  That  the  enormous  charges  exacted  by  railroads  and  other  transportation 
companies  between  the  food-producing  States  of  the  West  and  the  Atlantic  sea-board 
so  enhance  the  prices,  not  only  of  provisions,  but  also  of  every  description  of  manu- 
factures and  other  necessaries  of  life  as  well,  that  the  present  wages  paid  to  mechanics 
and  laborers  in  our  respective  trades  aud  business  in  this  city  are  not  adequate,  with 
the  most  rigid  economy,  to  the  support  of  the  employes  iu  those  trades  and  their  families. 

Resolred,  That  such  deficiency  iu  our  respective  trades,  to  wit,  the  carpenters  and 
bricklayers,  and  doubtless  the  same  is  true  in  all  others,  amounts  to  fully  25  per  cent, 
of  our  wages.  The  less  the  rate  of  wages  the  greater  the  deficiency,  and  hence  the 
greater  distress. 

Resolved,  That  while  we  presume  the  same  causes  operate  to  depress,  to  some  extent 
at  least,  the  business  of  our  employers,  that  fact  cannot  by  any  possibility  mitigate 
our  difficulties  or  its  consideration  deter  us  from  demanding  a  fair  and  reasonable  in- 
crease of  our  wages  to  meet  those  extra  expenses. 

Eesolved,  That  we  protest  against  the  burdens  of  society  aud  the  business  commu- 
nity, caused  by  the  enormous  and  unreasonable  exactions  aud  extortions  of  moneyed 
corporations  and  other  combinations  of  capital,  being  thrown  upon  the  mechanics  and 
laboring  men  of  the  country.  Let  each  class,  the  employer  as  well  as  the  employe, 
bear  their  equal  proportion  of  those  burdens. 

Resolved,  That  if  we  must  still  work  for  our  present  wages  we  shall  be  compelled  to 
do  so  at  prices  which  are  not  adequate  to  the  comfortable  siq>port  of  ourselves  and  families. 

The  main  causes,  then,  of  the  distress  and  consequent  strikes  among 
mechanics  and  laborers  in  our  eastern  cities  and  manufacturing  dis- 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


67 


tricts  are  here  condensed  into  the  smallest  possible  compass.  What 
are  those  causes?  We  answer,  u excessive  costs  in  transportation."  What 
is  the  remedy  !  Obviously,  "to  reduce  those  costs."  But  how  can  that 
be  done  ?  Just  here  comes  in  the  difficulty  in  solving  this  problem,  to 
wit,  "  cheap  transportation."  Can  that  result  be  secured  by  the  present 
means  of  transit  between  the  West  and  East,  to  wit,  the  railroads  and 
the  Erie  Canal?  Then  why  has  it  not  been  clone  ?  That  man  would  be 
regarded  as  not  well  posted  on  this  subject,  to  say  the  least,  who  would 
assume  any  such  solution.  The  causes  lie  far  deeper,  and  can  never  be 
eradicated  by  any  modification  of  the  present  system.  The  true  solu- 
tion is  this:  we  have  but  one  system  of  transportation,  and,  therefore, 
no  competition. 

A  COMPETING  SYSTEM  OF  TRANSPORTATION  INDISPENSABLE. 

What,  then,  is  the  remedy  for  this  state  of  affairs  ?  Simply  and  only  a 
" competing  system7'  of  transportation,  which  can  neither  be  crushed 
out,  bought  up,  or  coerced  into  subjection  to  any  monopoly  or  combina- 
tion of  monopolists  whatsoever. 

THIS  WATER -ROUTE  THE  ONLY  REMEDY. 

That  "  system"  can  only  be  secured  by  opening  up  continuous  steam- 
navigation  from  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean  on 
the  route  herein  pointed  out.  We  affirm  that  this  is  the  only  route. 
became  there  are  at  least  ten  or  more  good  and  substantial  reasons  for 
this  position. 

First.  Because  the  depth  and  volume  of  water  are  such  as  to  render 
its  carrying  capacity  practically  unlimited. 

Second.  Because  it  is  right  alongside  of  that  "  other  system,"  to  wit. 
the  railroads  and  the  Erie  Canal. 

Third.  It  is  on  the  shortest  and  cheapest  possible  route  between  the 
grain-fields  of  the  AYest  and  North  and  the  Eastern  and  European  mar- 
kets. 

Fourth.  It  will  allow  of  the  passage  of  vessels  of  more  than  fifteen 
times  the  carrying  capacity  of  the  largest  freight-train,  moving  at  an 
equal  rate  of  speed,  and  tor  about  one-sixth  the  charges  of  her  cargo. 

Fifth.  It  would  move  to  the  Eastern  and  European  markets  the  entire 
agricultural  products  of  all  the  Western  States,  and  all  the  region  lying 
beyond  both  West  and  Xorth,  and  bring  back  all  the  manufactures  and 
merchandise  of  those  markets  long  before  the  close  of  navigation,  and 
at  less  than  one-fourth  the  cost  now  exacted  by  the  present  "  system." 
to  wit,  the  railroads  and  the  Erie  Canal. 

Sixth.  It  would  at  once  compel  that  other  "  system'1  to  cany  at  about 
its  "  own  rates,"  or  get  nothing  to  do ;  in  other  words,  it  would  at  once 
create  an  active  and  healthy  competition  in  the  carrying  trade  of  the 
country. 

Seventh.  It  would  open  up  unlimited  markets  at  remunerative  prices 
lpr  all  our  surplus  agricultural  products  without  in  the  least  interfering 
with  or  demanding  the  sacrifice  of  any  other  material  interests  or  indus- 
tries of  the  country. 

Eighth.  By  thus  opening  up  remunerative  markets  for  the  agricultural 
products  of  the  Western  States,  we  at  the  same  time,  and  in  the  same 
proportion,  increase  their  ability  to  purchase  the  manufactures  of  the 
Eastern  and  Middle  States. 

Xinth.  By  opening  up  and  securing  the  markets  of  Western  Europe, 
American  shipping,  now  lying  idle  and  rotting  at  their  wharves,  would 
find  remunerative  employment  in  the  carrying  trade  between  the  agri- 


68 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


cultural  States  of  the  interior  aud  the  provision-markets  of  that  con- 
tinent. 

Tenth.  With  this  open  route  to  the  ocean  the  young  and  enterprising- 
business  men  of  the  country  could,  at  once,  enter  into  competition  with 
moneyed  corporations  aud  other  combinations  of  capital  in  the  carrying- 
trade  of  the  country  with  a  fair  prospect,  nay,  certainty,  of  success. 

Eleventh.  This  would  be  the  antidote  for  the  distress  and  consequent 
strikes  among  artisans,  mechanics,  and  laboring-men  of  the  eastern 
cities  and  manufacturing  districts,  because  it  would  add  the  25  per  cent, 
demanded  by  them  to  their  wages  by  the  reduction  of  the  costs  of 
transportation  between  the  two  sections  of  the  country,  and  thereby 
reducing  that  much  the  cost  of  living. 

Other  reasons  might  be  given  why  this  route  to  the  ocean  should  be 
opened  up  with  the  least  possible  delay,  but  surely  the  above  ought  to 
be  sufficient. 

We  challenge  the  friends  of  the  present  or  any  other  system  to  the  proof 
that  they  can  secure  this  indispensable  requisite,  to  wit,  11  cheap  transporta- 
tion? 

The  allegation  that  this  route  is  of  little  or  no  value,  because  closed 
by  ice  nearly  two-th  irds  of  the  year,  is  not  sustained  by  history.  It  is  charged 
by  the  enemies  of  this  route,  aud,  of  course,  friends  of  the  Erie  Canal 
and  the  railroads,  as  also  of  the  grievous  aud  oppressive  monopolies 
which  they  have  succeeded  in  fastening  upon  the  commerce  of  the  coun- 
try, that  the  assumed  advantages  of  this  route  do  not  exist  at  all,  or  are 
of  little  value,  in  consequence  of  the  short  period  of  navigation;  the 
same  opening  late  in  the  spring  and  closing  early  in  the  fall. 

THESE  STATEMENTS  NOT  TRUE. 

These,  and  all  like  statements,  are  without  any  valid  foundation  w  hat 
ever,  as  a  reference  to  tables  kept  at  Quebec,  Montreal,  Kingston,  and 
Toronto,  for  more  than  fifty  years,  most  abundantly  demonstrates.  By 
those  tables  kept  from  1814  to  1SG7,  a  period  of  fifty-three  years,  it  ap- 
pears that  the  average  time  of  the  opening  of  navigation  at  all  those 
places  was  April  15,  aud  the  average  time  of  closing  December  10.  The 
average  number  of  davs  of  actual  navigation  272 ;  the  longest  period 
310  days,  in  1813;  the  shortest  period,  222  days,  in  1832.  The  time  of 
opening  and  closing  has  not  varied  from  these  average  dates,  not  to  ex- 
ceed three  or  four  times,  during  all  that  period. 

OPENING  AND  CLOSING  OF  ERIE  CANAL. 

From  tables  and  records  kept  by  the  canal  commissioners  of  the  State 
of  Xew  York,  from  1821  to  1801,  inclusive,  the  average  time  of  the 
opening  of  the  Erie  Canal  was  April  15,  and  the  average  time  of  closing 
December  10.  The  earliest  day  of  opening  March  27, 1828,  and  the 
latest  day  May  0,  1857.  The  earliest  day  of  closing  November  25,  181G. 
aud  the  latest  day  December  21,  1832.  The  greatest  number  of  naviga* 
ble  days  260,  in  1828,  and  the  least  number  211,  in  the  years  1813. 
1817.  and  1850.  Average  number  of  days  of  navigation  232.  In  more 
than  half  of  those  years  the  maximum  days  of  navigation  have  not 
varied  two  days  from  the  above  minimum  of  211  days. 

TIAIE  OF  OPENING  AND  CLOSING  IIUDSON  EI  VEIL 

From  the  same  tables  it  appears  that  the  average  time  of  the  opening 
of  the  Hudson  Paver  was  March  25,  and  the  average  time  of  closing 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


69 


December  In.  Tbe  earliest  day  of  opening  February  4.  1S12.  ami  the 
Litest  day  April  13,  1813.  The  earliest  day  of  closing  November  30. 
1832.  and  the  latest  January  11.1*30.  The  average  number  of  days  at 
navigation  270.  The  greatest  number,  309,  in  1824;  308  days  in  1842, 
and  the  least  number,  220  days,  in  1828.  Here,  also,  in  more  than  half 
of  those  years  the  maximum  days  of  navigation  have  not  exceeded  the 
minimum  of  220  days  more  than  3  days. 

LAKE-NAVIGATION. 

From  the  same  tables  it  appeals  that  the  average  time  of  opening  of 
lake-navigation  is  April  20.  The  average  time  of  closing  December  15. 
The  average  number  of  days  of  navigation  280. 

FACTS  ESTABLISHED  BY  THESE  TABLES. 

These  tables  demonstrate  that  for  fifty-three  years  prior  to  1SC7  the 
average  time  of  actual  navigation  down  the  Saint  Lawrence  to  the  Atlan- 
tic Ocean  was  272  days.  On  the  Erie  Canal  for  forty  years  prior  to 
1864,  the  average  time  was  232  days,  or  40  days  less  than  down  the  Saint 
Lawrence.  On  the  Hudson  River  the  average  time  of  navigation  was 
270  days,  or  2  days  less,  and  on  the  lakes  2sn  days,  or  8  days  more  than 
down  the  Saint  Lawrence. 

ACTUAL  TIME  OP  SUSPENSION  OF  NAVIGATION. 

The  average  time  of  actual  suspension  of  navigation  for  fifty  three 
years  prior  to  1*07  on  the  Saint  Lawrence  was  only  03  days:  on  the  Hud- 
son. Oo  days:  on  the  Erie  Canal.  133  days,  and  on  the  lakes.  85  days  in 
each  year.  Actual  suspension  of  navigation  for  about  the  same  period 
from  Saint  Paul  (or  Fort  Snelling.  a  few  miles  above)  to  Saint  Louis  on 
the  Mississippi.  130  days. 

This  astonishing  phenomenon  of  extreme  open  navigation  on  the  Sain: 
Lawrence  in  that  high  northern  latitude,  (reaching  at  its  mouth  to  o2c.i 
is  mainly  and  probably  entirely  owing  to  the  immense  volume  of  warm 
waters  coming  down  from  the  upper  lakes,  which  do  not  run  out  or  cool 
until  very  late  in  the  fall,  and  often  until  far  into  the  winter.  Those 
waters  also,  always  being  warmer  during  the  winter  than  the  waters  of 
the  Hudson  or  Mississippi  Rivers,  cut  out  the  ice  on  the  Saint  Lawrence 
earlier  in  the  spring,  and  keep  the  river  clear  of  ice  later  in  the  fall. 

From  the  foregoing  statements,  taken  from  tables  which  are  official 
and  entirely  reliable,  it  appears  that  the  reports  made  by  the  opponents 
of  this  route,  that  it  is  blockaded  by  ice  for  more  than  half  the  year, 
which  have  been  extensively  circulated  and  have  done  vast  damage  and 
injury,  ore  without  any  t'oundo.tioii  icnatecer.  That,  in  fact,  this  route 
affords  not  only  far  greater,  indeed  unlimited  facilities,  but  a  longer 
period  of  navigation  than  its  more  southern  and  more  favored  rival,  to 
wit.  the  Erie  Canal  and  Hudson  River,  exceeding  the  former  by  more  than 
a  month,  or  even  than  the  Mississippi  as  fai  south  as  Saint  Louis.  Here, 
agaiu.  we  challenge  those  opponents  and  enemies,  or  anybody  else.  t<> 
refute  these  statements.  That  it  is  quite  as  safe  tor  steamers  which 
will  only  be  used  in  this  carrying  trade)  as  the  rival  route  to  Liverpool, 
to  wit.  via  Xew  York  City,  is  established  by  the  fact  that  marine  insur- 
ance on  this  route  for  steamers  is  the  same  as  from  Xew  York  to 
Liverpool. 

In  a  letter  dated  Montreal,  Ontario,  December  12,  1872,  Sir  John 
Young.  M.  P..  and  an  enterprising  and  wealthy  merchant  of  that  city, 
says : 


70 


NIAGARA  S  HIP- 1' ANAL. 


That  with  the  exception  of  a  few  days  iu  the  latter  part  of  September,  the  rates  01 
insurance  on  ocean  steamers  from  Montreal  to  Liverpool,  via  river  and  Gulf  of  Saint 
Lawrence,  from  the  opening  to  the  close  of  navigation,  are  the  same  as  from  New 
York  to  Liverpool  during  the  same  period,  and  for  those  few  days  about  one-fourth  per 
cent,  higher. 

SEVERAL  PROPOSITIONS  DEDUC1BLE  FROM  THIS  DISCUSSION. 

From  the  foregoing  facts  and  statements,  which  are  entirely  reliable 
and  procured  from  the  most  authentic  sources,  the  following  proposi- 
tions are  fairly  and  legitimately  deducible,  to  wit  : 

First.  That  those  States,  above  enumerated,  produce  nearly  three- 
fourths  of  all  the  main  agricultural  products  of  the  country,  and  all  the 
surplus  of  food  (east  of  the  mountains)  to  supply  the  markets  of  our 
own  and  foreign  countries. 

Second.  That  the  costs  of  transportation  are  so  great  under  the  pres- 
ent "  system"  of  transit,  that  nearly  nine-tenths  of  the  value  of  those 
products  are  consumed  in  getting  them  to  market.  In  addition  to  those 
enormous  charges,  tbe  pressure  is  often  so  great  as  to  produce  an  entire 
embargo  upon  some  articles. 

Third.  That  the  only  escape  from  or  even  alleviation  of  those  enor- 
mous and  oppressive  monopolies  now  imposed  upon  the  industry  of  the 
country  will  be  to  establish  as  near  alongside  of  the  "present  system  "  as 
can  be  done,  an  entirely  independent  system  of  transportation  from  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean  :  and  that  this  object 
can  only  be  secured  by  the  construction  of  this  canal  around  Niagara 
Falls. 

Fourth.  That  the  agricultural  interests  of  this  country  can  never  se- 
cure the  benefit  of  the  markets  of  Western  Europe  until  a  competing  sys- 
tem of  transportation  shall  be  firmly  established,  so  as  to  reduce  the 
costs  of  transit  below  those  from  Central  Europe  aud  Western  Asia. 

Fifth.  That  the  proposed  ship-canal  at  Niagara  Falls,  being  intended 
to  remove  an  obstruction  in  a  system  of  navigable  water,  recognized 
from  the  earliest  colonial  period  of  our  country  as  "a  public  navigable 
highway,"  and  being  entirely  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  the 
same  should  be  constructed  by  the  United  States;  should  be  under  its 
exclusive  control  and  supervision  ;  and  should  be  free  to  the  commerce 
of  tbe  whole  country,  except  so  much  toll  as  may  be  necessary  to  keep 
the  works  in  repair,  and  pay  the  current  expenses  of  operating  the  same. 

Sixth.  That  any  delay  on  the  part  of  the  Government  in  making  some 
provision  for  the  speedy  construction  of  this  work  would  be  most  dis- 
astrous to  the  best  interests  of  the  whole  country  and  more  especially  to 
the  West,  as  well  as  to  the  Government  itself,  in  preventing  the  develop- 
ment and  increase  of  prosperity,  population,  and  wealth,  which  cannot, 
by  any  possibility,  be  secured  in  any  other  way. 

Seventh.  That  the  policy  of  our  Government  should  be  to  control  our 
own  trade  and  commerce  between  the  East  aud  West  as  well  as  in  every 
other  part  of  the  country,  and,  therefore,  that  we  should  not  depend  upon 
the  Welland  Canal  or  any  other  work  in  a  foreign  country  in  the  adop- 
tion of  measures  for  the  development  of  our  own  resources  and  the  en- 
largement and  extension  of  onr  own  commercial  interests. 

Eighth.  That  neither  the  enlargement  of  that  work  nor  of  the  Erie  Ca- 
nal to  the  capacity  proposed,  to  wit,  1,000  tons,  can  meet  the  de- 
mands and  necessities  of  the  country,  and  more  especially  of  tbe 
West,  and  therefore  should  not  be  depended  upon  or  adopted  to  the 
exclusion  of  this  work,  because  they  cannot  inaugurate,  much  less  estab- 
lish, "cheap  transportation." 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


71 


Ninth.  Ey  the  opening  up  of  this  route,  as  contemplated  in  the  fort- 
going  programme,  remunerative  markets  will  be  secured  for  all  the 
surplus  agricultural  products  of  the  West,  without  the  sacrifice  of  any 
of  the  material  interests  of  any  other  portion  of  the  country. 

Tenth.  By  thus  supplying  the  markets  for  the  surplus  products 
which  the"  West  does  now,  and  forever  can,  produce  in  unlimited 
amounts,  the  capacity  for  consuming  the  manufactures  and  other  pro- 
ducts of  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States  will  be  increased  iu  the  same 
proportion. 

Eleventh.  By  supplying  with  breadstuff  and  other  agricultural  pro- 
ducts, and  thereby  controlling,  the  markets  of  Western  Europe,  we 
shall  secure  the  balance  of  trade  in  our  favor,  and  thereby  put  a  most  ef- 
fectual stop  to  the  annual  drain  of  specie  from  this  country  to  Europe 
to  pay  those  balances  now,  and  for  many  years  past,  largely  against  us. 
In  other  words,  we  shall  pay  these  commercial  and  manufacturing  bal- 
ances in  wheat,  flour,  corn,  oats,  barley,  beef,  pork,  lard,  &c,  &c.  the 
products  of  the  prairie  farms  of  the  western  plains,  now  the  home  of 
the  Indian  and  buffalo,  instead  of  paying  them  in  gold  and  silver,  as 
we  are  now,  and  for  many  years  have  been,  doing. 

Then  Xew  York,  instead  of  London,  would  be  the  manufacturing  em- 
porium and  monetary  center  of  the  commercial  world.  In  conclusion, 
we  would  beg  leave  to  submit  this  report  and  the  accompanying  reso- 
lution as  expressive,  not  only  of  our  own  views  on  this  great  and 
important  subject,  but.  as  we  believe,  the  views  of  the  great  mass 
of  the  American  people  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 

We  would  therefore  respectfully  submit,  for  the  consideration  of  Con- 
gress and  the  country,  the  following  resolution,  to  wit : 

Resolced,  That  the  undersigned,  the  executive  committee  of  the 
commercial  convention  which  assembled  at  Detroit,  in  the  State  of 
Michigan,  on  the  13th  of  December.  1871.  would  respectfully  present 
the  foregoing  facts,  statistics,  and  arguments  for  the  consideration  of 
Congress.  And  we  do  most  cordially  and  sincerely  unite  in  the  opinion 
and  conviction  expressed  by  that  convention,  as  also  by  the  people  in  all 
parts  of  the  country,  that  greater  facilities  and  cheaper  rates  of  trans- 
portation between  the  different  sections  of  the  country,  and  more  es- 
pecially between  the  great  food-producing  States  of  the  West  and 
Xorthwest,  and  the  Atlantic  sea-board,  are  an  imperative  necessity  to  the 
continued  development  and  consequent  prosperity  of  the  whole  coun- 
try :  and  that  one.  and  probably  the  most  efficient,  means  to  secure 
those  results,  will  be  the  speedy  construction  of  the  proposed  ship- 
canal  around  the  Falls  of  Niagara,  on  the  American  side  thereof.  We 
would,  therefore,  respectfully  but  urgently,  in  behalf  of  the  people  of 
the  whole  country,  request  that  Congress  adopt  such  legislation,  at  its 
present  session,  as  shall  secure  the  speedv  construction  of  that  work. 

LEWIS  A.  THOMAS,  Iowa: 
JOHN  BURT,  Michigan; 
CHAELES  EAXDALF.  Illinois ; 
DAOTEL  G.  FOET: 
GEORGE  I.  POST.  New  York: 
T.  C,  HEESEY.  Maine: 
J.  IE  GRAY,  District  of  Columbia  : 
C.  D.  EOBIXSOX,  Wisconsin: 
RALPH  P.  BUOKLAND,  Ohio, 

Executive  Comm  kite. 

Detroit,  Michigan,  November  26,  1872. 


72 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


APPENDIX. 

EFFECT    OF    COMPETITION    BETWEEN   OCEAN  AND  ALL -II AIL  TRANS- 
PORTATION ACROSS  THE  CONTINENT  FROM  SAN  FRANCISCO. 

The  effect  of  competition  between  ocean  and  all-rail  transportation 
has  an  illustration  upon  a  large  scale  in  the  carrying  of  Hour,  fruit,  tea, 
China  silks,  &c,  from  California  to  New  York,  Boston,  and  the  States 
generally  east  of  the  mountains.  The  Central  Pacific  Railroad  and  its 
connections  across  the  continent  carry  flour  from  San  Francisco  all  the 
way  across  the  continent,  and  for  more  than  a  thousand  miles  across  the 
wheat-fields  of  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi  Valleys  to  New  York,  Bos- 
ton, and  other  eastern  markets,  for  less  than  half  the  average  charge 
for  transportation  of  wheat  from  those  valleys  to  the  same  markets,  and 
even  for  less  than  the  ordinary  ocean  rates.  The  reason  is  that  the  sev- 
eral lines  of  ocean-steamers  by  the  way  of  Panama  will  carry  it  at  the 
same  rates.  The  railroad  gets  a  large  share  of  this  business,  because 
of  its  quicker  transit,  and  the  avoidance  of  the  tropical  ocean  climate. 
The  average  rate  is  about  34  cents  per  bushel.  A  vast  amount  of  that 
tiour  goes  direct  from  Boston  to  Liverpool,  because  the  cost  of  transit 
from  San  Francisco  to  that  point,  a  distance  of  more  than  eight  thou- 
sand miles,  is  less  than  from  the  Baltic  and  Black  Sea  provinces.  The 
superior  quality  of  the  article  undoubtedly  has  a  good  deal  to  do  with 
this  trade.  So  also  with  the  California  fruits,  as  pears,  grapes,  &c.  The 
railroad  will  bring  those  fruits  into  all  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States 
and  undersell  the  home  fruit-growers.  So  extensive  is  this  trade  be- 
coming that  it  is  a  cause  of  general  complaint  and  apprehension 
among  all  the  fruit-growers  of  the  Atlantic  States.  This  also  is  directly 
traceable  to  the  same  cause,  to  wit:  competition  between  ocean  and 
rail  transportation. 

THE  GRAIN-TRADE  OF  CHILI  WITH  WESTERN  EUROPE. 

Another  illustration  of  the  effect  of  water-transportation,  as  also  coin- 
petition  on  rival  routes,  has  a  most  emphatic  illustration  in  the  grain- 
trade  of  Chili  with  Liverpool  and  other  grain-markets  of  AVestern 
Europe.  Valparaiso,  her  principal  port  of  shipment,  is  more  than 
14,000  miles  distant,  nearly  five  times  the  distance  from  New  York  to 
Liverpool,  and  yet  the  Chilian  wheat  and  flour,  to  the  full  amount  of  her 
crop,  drives  out  and  keeps  out  of  those  markets  our  wheat  and  flour 
shipped  from  ports  not  a  fourth  the  distance.  She  is  also  able  to  sell 
her  whole  crop  to  the  exclusion  of  the  Baltic  and  Black  Sea  wheat,  be- 
cause she  can  ship  that  entire  distance  at  cheaper  rates  than  can  be 
brought  down  from  these  regions.  Competition  there  also  has  a  very 
strong  influence  in  the  reduction  of  prices  for  transportation.  One  route 
from  Valparaiso  and  other  Chilian  ports  is  by  Cape  Horn,  the  other  by 
Panama.  These  are  rival  routes,  and  they  are  perpetually  bidding 
against  each  other,  and  yet  both  do  a  remunerative  and  profitable  busi- 
ness. Before  the  Panama  route  was  opened,  and  therefore  competition 
impossible,  very  little  wheat  was  shipped  from  any  of  the  Chilian  ports, 
because  the  cost  of  transit  was  so  high  that  they  could  not  compete 
with  the  Baltic  and  Black  Sea.  The  same  is  true  also  in  the  carrying- 
trade  from  San  Francisco  east,  of  the  teas,  silks,  and  other  merchan- 
dise from  China  and  Japan.    Whenever  the  ocean-route  reduces  the 


NIAGARA  SHIP-CANAL. 


73 


rates  of  freight  by  that  route,  the  railroad  will  instantly  do  the  same 
thing.  Some  six  months  ago  the  steamers  reduced  the  rate  on  teas  50 
cents  on  the  chest,  and  Other  freight  in  the  same  proportion  ;  in  less 
than  a  week  the  railroad  did  the  same.  And  so  in  all  cases,  whenever 
the  steamers  reduce  the  charges  on  transportation  the  railroad  will  in- 
stantly do  the  same  thing. 

THIS  COMPETITION  HAS  REDUCED  THE  ENGLISH  CHINA  FLEET  NEARLY 
ONE-HALF,  AND  SO  OF  THE  RATES  OF  TRANSPORTATION. 

Since  the  line  of  steamers  from  San  Francisco  to  Japan  and  China 
has  been  established,  the  English-China  fleet  of  ocean  sail- vessels,  winch 
formerly  numbered  more  than  forty  sail,  of  more  than  2,000  tons  burden 
each,  has  been  reduced  nearly  one-half,  and  the  charges  for  transporta- 
tion in  about  the  same  ratio.  The  reasou  is  that  they  cannot  stand  up 
against  the  shorter,  quicker,  and  cheaper  route  across  the  Pacific,  and 
the  all-rail  route  across  this  continent.  And,  as  before  stated,  the  Pan- 
ama ocean-route  keeps  the  railroad  to  reasonable  terms.  The  conse- 
quence is  that  the  shorter  and  cheaper- route  is  having  all  it  can  possibly 
do  (at  remunerative  rates,  too)  in  freight-transportation.  The  great 
amount  of  that  business  more  than  compensates  for  the  low  rates. 
This  illustrates  exactly  what  we  claim  will  be  the  effect  of  the  construc- 
tion of  this  canal.  Our  agricultural  produce  as  well  as  merchandise 
moving  west  will  not  all  go  on  that  route,  but  it  will  be  carried  (if  at 
all)  over  others  at  the  rates  which  this  route  can  and  will  carry  them. 

H.  Mis.  22  6 


O 


lEx  ICtbrta 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


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Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
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